


Sacred Wars Part II: Fall of Austean

by Lugialvr1994



Series: Sacred Wars: Saga of Austean [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Politics, Civil War, Complete, Dragons, Dubious Morality, Dwarves, Elves, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fantasy, Female Protagonist, Fictional Religion & Theology, Gen, High Fantasy, Magic, Magic-Users, Moral Ambiguity, Politics, Rebellion, Sequel, Tragedy, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2020-09-27 09:07:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 82,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20405188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lugialvr1994/pseuds/Lugialvr1994
Summary: Over a century after the fall of the Order of Light, a young woman seeking independence for her people uncovers and exposes a secret hidden for decades. As the continent spirals into chaos, a new rebellion forms. Will the new rebels finally end the cycle of war and destruction? Or, will the dreams of a madman bring unending conflict and bloodshed to the world of Austean?Update 3/7/2020: This story’s sequel, which is also the final installment in this series, will begin posting on Saturday 3/14/2020. It is recommended that anyone who reads that story have read this one and its predecessor first.





	1. Prologue: Ending One War

**Author's Note:**

> First off, this story is a sequel to my earlier work, Sacred Wars: Tales of Austean. Therefore, I would strongly advise anyone who wants to read this story to read that one through to the end first. This story is also a prequel to my crossover story Convergence. Meaning that this story is both a sequel and a prequel. References to both the first Sacred Wars and to Convergence abound in this story. However, I would not go so far as to mandate having read Convergence before reading this story. In fact, a few critical events of this story are “spoiled” in Convergence. Still, this story goes into events mentioned in Convergence in much greater detail. In fact, this story’s protagonist was never mentioned in the crossover. 
> 
> Like its predecessor in the series, this story is set in a semi-original fantasy world inspired in some ways by Dungeons and Dragons version 3.5. However, while the first Sacred Wars was set in the equivalent of the enlightenment era with some leftover medieval technology, this story moves the timeline forward all the way to the late 1800s. This is my attempt at writing a post-industrial revolution high fantasy story. Similar to Convergence, this story will still feature the use of melee weapons and body armor, along with far more advanced military and civilian technology. As another note worth sharing, this story is a slow starter. After the prologue chapter, there is not much action for quite a bit. Still, most of the buildup exists for a reason and involves introducing characters and advancing the plot toward the protagonist’s goal. I should also say that, as the title indicates, this story is the “fall” to its predecessor’s “rise.” Some events, especially a few that occur later in the story, could be unpleasant to read for people who enjoyed the original Sacred Wars. Still, if the story does have an emotional impact, I guess that that means I am doing my job as its author. 
> 
> Like every story that I post, this story has been completed and edited as of writing this. Now, I will be posting it. There will be a new chapter posted every Monday and Friday until the story is fully posted, barring unforeseen circumstances. 
> 
> Finally, this will be my first posted story with an official dedication. This story is dedicated to my Nana, who read the first Sacred Wars and kept asking for a sequel. Without her, I doubt I would have has nearly as much motivation to both start and finish this story.

Fall 1889 AC: (Austeanean Calendar) The upper southwestern coast of Eulidia, just south of the capital city of Wortshire.

The war was nearly over. That was at least what the young Lieutenant thought to herself as she crouched behind the large reddish boulder. Lieutenant Mara Alastair Winslow of the Terranoran Expeditionary Force peered out at the plain beyond and below her position using her binoculars. She was a young, light-skinned, human woman with long, straight blond hair. There was a small shock of red hair on the left side of her face. At her belt were an elegantly-crafted rapier, a large revolver and a combat knife. A pump-action shotgun was strapped to her back. Her lightly-armored uniform was primarily a light blue color. However, orange stripes lined the armor plates. Two of them stretched from her neck to her stomach, one on either side of her head. 

The plain was covered in the occasional patches of grass and shrubbery. However, much of the soil was exposed. Mara was not focused on the nature of the terrain so much as she was focused on a small group of soldiers wearing tan armor with hints of blue and red. The soldiers were standing in a small cluster and talking amongst themselves. Even at her range, Mara could tell that they were nervous.

Mara put down her binoculars as she saw a man with light skin and brown hair wearing a similarly-armored uniform quietly walking over to crouch next to her. The other soldier was Sergeant Victor Nikolov, Mara’s personal arcanist. Victor was armed only with a combat knife and his revolver. Victor’s ears were slightly more pointed and his cheeks somewhat deeper than Mara’s. Those features being a result of him being half human and half-light elf.

As Mara scanned the plain in front of her again, she quietly told Victor, “I see a few more Eulidians coming in to join the patrol. We should head back to the squad and prepare to engage them.”

Victor nodded his understanding. As the pair got up and began to make their way back to their unit, he told Mara, “You know as well as I do that the Eulidians may surrender any day. The general’s plan to flank their capital on the coastline, rather than assault it head on by sea has worked brilliantly so far.”

Mara shrugged and replied, “The end of this war is only the beginning as far as I am concerned. Once the so-called ‘Holy Eulidian Empire’ surrenders, the real work at home will begin.”

Victor smiled at Mara and told her, “You have always been ambitious, My Lady. I can only advise that we keep ourselves focused on the task at hand. We can worry about Bakaria’s future once we have returned home.”

Mara simply nodded, the young lieutenant knew that the war with Imperial Eulidia should soon be over. Fighting in the grand, continent-spanning, conflict would only strengthen the case she wanted to make once she returned to her homeland.

It was not long until Mara and Victor reached a small squad of Terranoran soldiers. This was the unit Mara personally commanded. She would have preferred to lead soldiers from her family’s domain, the North Terranoran Coastal Province of Bakaria. However, she had been trained as an officer at the Agharta Military Academy and she knew what was expected from her. Her training had prepared her to lead soldiers from varied backgrounds and with varied skill sets. She had made due with who she had been given command of. 

A young, well-armored, human soldier carrying a warhammer stepped forward. Around his neck was a symbol on a chain. The symbol consisted of a blue circle within an orange outer ring that laid within a larger blue ring. The “bullseye” was flanked on each side by a depiction of a majestic white unicorn. The young man was Priest Corporal Wilhelm Creek, the squad’s chaplain. Wilhelm asked Mara and Victor, “Lieutenant Winslow, did you find enemies ahead? We aren’t far from the southern gate of the enemy capital of Wortshire. They must have soldiers nearby?”

Mara replied, “We did spot a couple of Eulidian patrols just ahead. Seeing as we are here to prevent nearby enemy units from reporting back to the capital ahead of our main force’s advance, we will move up and engage the hostiles and prevent them from escaping.”

Victor then called out to the roughly twenty soldiers in the unit, “Get ready to move out! We need to make sure we reach the rendezvous point with Captain Woodstock and the rest of the Cerberus Battalion by nightfall.”

Mara nodded, approving Victor’s orders. She then took the lead of her squad, along with Wilhelm and the squad’s heavy infantry.

When the Terranoran unit reached the top of the ridge where Mara and Victor had been positioned earlier, they looked down and saw that the force of Eulidian infantry now numbered around 15 troops. It was not long until a young woman wearing Eulidian light armor pointed to the top of ridge and the enemy troops began to scramble to get into a combat formation.

Mara called out to her subordinates, “Heavy Shields ready! Rifles out behind the front rank! Corporal Creek, you are on healing duty. Victor, blast the enemy as soon as we are in range. Recon troops, behind me! We will attack their left flank.”

Two ranks of Terranoran soldiers readied their weapons and rapidly advanced on the surprised Eulidian squad with Victor and Wilhelm right behind them. As gunfire began to be exchanged between the two units, Mara charged around the Eulidians’ left flank followed by four other lightly-armored soldiers.

A pair of Eulidian soldiers readied bolt-action rifles, as Mara and her troops charged at them. One of them was downed by gunfire coming from behind Mara.

Mara drew her revolver in a fluid motion and then took quick aim at the other enemy’s head. A single shot dropped the hostile and cleared the way for her advance to continue.

As the Eulidians tried to mount a defense with their heavy infantry, Mara readied her shotgun. She saw a beam of fire projected by Victor burn a lethal hole in an enemy infantryman’s chest.

As Mara and the four troops behind her met the enemy’s left flank, Mara fired a blast of pellets from her shotgun into two Eulidian soldiers, downing the enemies. Mara could sense that the Eulidian troops were demoralized and fighting poorly because of their lack of morale. Why wouldn’t they be? Their nation had lost all of its overseas colonies to allied forces since Terranor’s expeditionary force had joined the war. Now, allied forces were descending on Wortshire from both the north and the south, clearing out all defenders they had encountered so far. Allied intelligence indicated that the Eulidian High Command was having a serious debate about whether or not to surrender while they could still dictate some of the terms. The war could end up concluding before allied troops even marched into Wortshire.

Mara refocused herself on the battle as she saw the enemy begin to fall back. Her own soldiers advanced into a full charge as the enemy retreated. Mara discharged her shotgun one more time, this time into an enemy soldier’s back. The Eulidian trooper was perforated with pellets and died pretty much instantly upon impact.

The Eulidian force did not stand much of a chance. Their squad was torn to pieces by the, better-prepared, Terranoran unit.

Mara regrouped her squad and then ordered, “We will keep moving until we either reach the rendezvous point or encounter further enemies. So far, the Eulidians have not been putting up much resistance today…”

Wilhelm, who had been healing an allied soldier who had been shot in the shoulder by a Eulidian rifleman with purple light coming from his hand, looked up and interrupted, “Lieutenant, do you hear something?”

Mara quickly nodded and drew her binoculars. She looked up over a ridge just to the north as she heard the sound of heavy footsteps. Soon, her jaw dropped as she began to see a much larger Eulidian force coming into view. At the head of this force was a towering armored humanoid with grey-brown skin. The giant wielded a massive two-handed hammer and had a massive rifle strapped to his back. Mara was sure that there were at least fifty Eulidian soldiers in the marching squad. There were likely many more behind the unit she could see. 

Victor could only say, “I guess they decided to start putting up resistance?”

Mara put away her binoculars and then ordered, “All troops, full retreat! We need to reach the general’s main force before we get overwhelmed and wiped out!”

Obeying their commander’s orders, Mara’s unit followed her and Victor south as fast as they could. It was not long until the Eulidian heavy unit saw their fleeing enemies, and their fallen advance scouts, and gave chase.

Thankfully, the Eulidian forces and their earth giant leader did not seem to have long-range artillery support. Mara’s unit was able to get reasonably far ahead of their pursuers. As the chase continued south across the coastal plains of western Eulidia for the next half an hour, Mara could only hope that her troops would reach their allies soon. The enemy was gaining on them. The Eulidians seeming desperate for any victory they could seize at this point.

As Eulidian gunfire began to fly past Mara’s soldiers, with their enemies getting ever closer. Mara began to consider the possibility of having to stand and fight the massed Eulidian force.

As Mara frantically looked for some kind of terrain that would give her troops an advantage. She saw a series of blazing projectiles flying overhead. The barrage of artillery shells slammed into the ground well behind her unit, many of them connecting with the mid-ranks of the Eulidian assault force. 

Mara and her soldiers all stopped retreating, as the enemy force was now somewhat broken up by the well-aimed artillery strike. Suddenly, a pair of armored humans riding unicorns sheathed in purple flames burst out from some nearby trees. One of the riders was a man and the other was a woman, both of them were light-skinned with blond hair. The male rider hefted an enormous greatsword, one big enough for a giant, as his mount charged the enemy ranks. The female rider had a shotgun akin to Mara’s out, but a smaller greatsword was strapped to her back. The two Terranoran Knights were followed by the rest of the Cerberus Battalion, the elite unit Mara and her soldiers served in.

Victor called out, “Captain Woodstock is here! They must have spotted us!”

As the Eulidian giant moved up to engage the two knights, sniper fire rang out from behind the charging Cerberus Battalion troops. Multiple Eulidians were gunned down before they could react. Mara ordered, “All units, advance! This is our chance to counterattack!”

Mara took a deep breath and drew her rapier and revolver. Her soldiers took up their positons and then rushed at their distracted enemies.

As the battle was joined, Mara saw Captain Antonio Brown Woodstock leap off of his unicorn mount, Blue Dawn, and deliver a mighty slash to the earth giant’s abdomen with his massive greatsword, _Fury_. His apprentice, Sandra Burke covered him against the Eulidian heavy infantry with her shotgun while still atop her unicorn mount.

Mara nailed a Eulidian soldier in the head with her revolver, as her squad rushed forward. She had no intention of dying here, not with the war so close to being won.

More gunfire from the Cerberus Battalion’s main force dropped enemy after enemy. Mara knew that Sergeant Mia Buraig, the battalion’s ace sniper, was likely coordinating the squad raining down lead on the enemy. A second artillery barrage from behind the Terranoran lines struck the rear guard of the enemy force. The Eulidian unit lost most of their snipers and spellcasters from the bombardment of shells.

A dark-skinned Terranoran human Corporal, who Mara recognized as James Benson led the charge past the wounded earth giant right into the enemy frontline. Mara hung back with Victor and focused on dispatching enemies from a distance. Wilhelm led her squad’s main bulk to assist in taking on the enemy’s frontline.

Now, Sandra was hacking at the earth giant’s legs with her greatsword. The mighty creature fell to his knees after missing her with his hammer twice. Captain Woodstock then sheathed _Fury _in purple fire, as Blue Dawn covered him by striking at their foes with his mighty hooves. Antonio drove his enormous flaming blade into the giant’s face, killing him.

Mara smiled when she saw her Captain slay the enemy giant. However, now the two forces were engaged in a brutal melee. Artillery support would be risky at this point. More Eulidian soldiers were coming in from the north as well.

Mara then heard Victor call out, “We may have another problem!”

Mara looked up into the sky and saw an enormous blue and gold lizard born aloft by bat like wings flying down towards the battle. It was a desert dragon and he seemed to be on the Eulidians’ side.

As the dragon swept down towards Mara and Victor’s position, his maw began to spark with lighting. Mara and Victor both dove for cover. However, the dragon was interrupted by a sudden bombardment of explosive spheres composed of coursing purple energy.

Mara looked up and then saw the enemy desert dragon and his allies on the ground being pummeled by the storm of explosive purple energy spheres. Looking back to the south, Mara saw a middle-aged brunette light elf woman wearing an armored Terranoran uniform. The woman held out a bastard sword that shimmered with purple fire. Her eyes were also enflamed with the same energy. The commander of the Terranoran Expeditionary Force, General Sapphire Cordwin Coril, had arrived.

Flanking the general were a pair of giants with charcoal skin and fiery red hair. They wore appropriately-sized Terranoran army uniforms. The two flame giants rushed forward with their own greatswords drawn. They were followed by dozens of Terranoran soldiers.

The desert dragon took a hail of gunfire from General Coril’s troops. He breathed his lightning at the general. However, she projected a shield of purple light around herself which blocked the bolts of electricity from reaching her.

The dragon soon had the misfortune to swoop low enough that one of the flame giants could slash at one of his wings. The dragon tumbled to the ground where Antonio and Sandra could reach him, as could the other flame giant.

Mara was genuinely impressed by the display of raw divine power her force’s general had mustered. She had never been that much of a believer in the Terranoran United Church of God. However, she knew that the magic its clergy could all summon was very real. It was worthy of respect for its restorative and offensive power alone.

Mara now rushed to join her forces on the front lines with her rapier in hand. The desert dragon was soon hacked to death. The Eulidian troops were running out of options, as general Coril called down a massive plume of purple flames onto their frontline. She was careful to avoid scorching any of her soldiers.

The Eulidians were soon forced to retreat again as they were now badly outnumbered. Captain Woodstock mounted Blue Dawn and led the Cerberus Battalion in pursuit. Mara knew that he had a reputation for not letting his enemies get away. Her Captain was widely feared among the Eulidian people and respected by those he had led and liberated during the war. It was not long until the surviving Eulidians were either slain, or managed to escape narrowly.

After the Eulidians were routed. Mara met with Captain Woodstock and Lieutenant Burke. Both of them seemed to be in a good mood. Knowing that her Captain’s intervention had saved her squad, Mara humbly began, “Thank for the assistance, sir.”

Captain Woodstock sheathed _Fury _on his back and responded, “Don’t worry about it, Mara. Besides, you led them right into our ambush. Honestly, if that was all they can muster at this point, the war is nearly won. Once we break down the gates of Wortshire, we will force the Eulidians to give up their empire for good and then…”

At that point Sandra pointed out to her commanding officer, “The general is coming our way, Captain.”

Mara, Antonio and Sandra all saluted General Coril as she calmly walked over to them. The legendary officer’s sword and revolver holstered and sheathed at her belt. Mara knew that the general bore the unofficial title of “Greatest Traitor” for her role in overthrowing the light elven Order of Light over a century earlier. The High Priestess of the Order of Light had fallen to Sapphire’s blade in Agharta. Her death had ended the Terranoran Civil War. Following Sapphire was Alfonso Vargas, the commander of the Cerberus Battalion’s artillery batteries and heir to Vargas Technologies, the biggest manufacturing company in Terranor.

General Coril saluted her subordinates and then said, “At ease. Captain Woodstock, I overheard your conversation and I hate to disappoint you…”

Antonio quickly asked, after dropping his salute, “Might I ask what the disappointment is, ma’am?”

General Coril responded, “A Eulidian Officer named Charles Joland has recently arrived at out camp with his entourage bearing a white flag. He has delivered a message from the Eulidian King and Queen saying that they are willing to give up their colonies for good in exchange for being allowed to negotiate a conditional surrender. It seems like we have wiped out the last of their units who would not listen to reason. There has been a ceasefire across all fronts.” The general then smiled and finished, “It would seem that the war has been won before winter, just as we planned.”

Mara breathed a large sigh of relief, as Captain Woodstock looked greatly annoyed. She knew that she would have to meet with Victor and tell him the good news. The war was effectively over. She would have to send a letter to her parents informing them that she had survived the campaign and would be returning home safely soon. Once she returned to Bakaria, her real work would begin. She may have served in the Domain of Terranor’s military, but that was not the future she had planned for herself, not in the least.


	2. Home in Bakaria

Early Spring 1890 AC: Narvograd, capital city of Bakaria, located on the Northeastern Coast of the Terranoran Continent.

Mara Alastair Winslow, heiress to the ladyship of Bakaria, woke up in her own bed for the first time in months. After spending the winter on a semi-spontaneous extended vacation, following the conclusion of the war that had taken her far across the ocean, she had finally returned to her homeland. After getting out of bed promptly, Mara soon got dressed in her dark blue and white dress shirt and a sleek pair of black pants and boots. She then took a look outside and saw that many of the plants in the palace gardens were beginning to come into bloom.

As she looked farther outside to the streets of Narvograd, Mara could only think, “I’m finally back where I belong. I know I have a great responsibility to the people out there. They deserve better than what they have been given. Once I have gotten Bakaria what she deserves, I will secure both my place in history and my people’s independence.”

Mara looked out the window for a few minutes. She then turned on her heel and made her way to her bedroom door. She knew that her parents would want to see her.

After leaving her bedroom, Mara made her way down to the smaller of the two dining rooms in the palace she had lived in since her birth. Her destination room was intended to be a place for the palace’s occupants to hold smaller and more intimate meals than the grand dining hall.

When Mara reached the eating space, she saw a balding human man with grey hair wearing a black dress coat and pants. Next to him was a woman, also with greying hair, wearing a simple pink dress. The two of them were sitting on opposite sides of the table and finishing up their eggs and toast.

The woman in pink, Mara’s mother, turned to her daughter and smiled warmly. She then said, “Well there you are dear. Mara, you know that you still look like a soldier in that uniform. You do love formal appearances even more than we do.”

Mara shrugged her shoulders and replied, as she walked over to sit down in between her parents, “This outfit is more comfortable than you would expect. I also like to wear this as a signifier of the responsibility that I am to inherit from the two of you.”

Mara’s father smiled over at his only child and added, “You look beautiful sweetie. Once the servants come out to get our food, you can order whatever you want… as long as we have it in the kitchen.”

Mara’s mother continued, “When we sent you to be schooled at the military academy, we did not expect for there to be a war declared just as you were so close to graduation. I think I speak for most of the country when I say that we are so relieved that you survived the conflict.”

Mara smiled and nodded, adding, “The job is done. The Eulidians were driven from Fadalia and their various colonies were all liberated. Fortunately, _Operation Scything Pincer _caught them off guard at the end of the war. We approached from the south and the Fadalians approached from the north. They surrendered before we could even assault Wortshire. I am just glad to be home after the war. I am still sorry that I ended up taking such a long winter vacation afterwards in Southern Fadalia.” 

Mara’s mother pointed out, “It sounds like your time at the southern Zaki estate was actually quite wonderful. You should be happy that we approved the, somewhat surprising, request you sent us while staying there. We very much want to meet Sugaru Zaki whenever he can come south to Terranor.

Mara blushed slightly as one of her family’s servants took away her parents’ plates. After ordering some bacon and pancakes, Mara continued, “Yes, Sugaru most certainly wants to meet with you two as well. We have agreed that he will be coming down once everything else is in order. I still have big plans for Bakaria, as I told you two before I departed for the war.”

Mara’s father looked his daughter in the eyes and told her, “You will have to get parliamentary approval if you want your plan to advance. Bakaria has been a province of the Domain of Terranor ever since her establishment. You will also have to contend with the United Church of God itself. They will not be happy with one, or more, of their provinces attempting to leave the Domain they have established.”

Mara looked unmoved and simply nodded. She told her parents, “I intend to go before our parliament within the next week or two. The Domain of Terranor may not want to lose Bakaria, or any of the other Northern Provinces. However, they will look like hypocrites if they try to stop us from seceding. After having just fought and won a war on foreign soil to repel a hostile imperial power and secure independence for its colonies, they will have the moral low ground if they try to keep us from leaving their domain. I willingly fought in their war to help free foreigners. All I ask of them is that they be consistent with their own proclaimed values and practice what they preach at home and abroad.”

Mara’s mother chuckled at her daughter, saying, “You really are an aspiring stateswoman. We will support your plan for independence as well as we can. However, you should be warned that it could come to another war if things do not go as smoothly as you hope.”

Mara sighed lowered her head a bit. She sighed deeply and admitted, “I have certainly considered that possibility. However, I need to do what I believe is right for our society and its future. I am willing to take both the credit, and if need be, the blame for the outcome of my plans. I want both of you to know that.”

Mara’s father nodded and then said, “Regardless of where the future takes you and our nation, we are glad to see you again Mara. It seemed that Victor Nikolov, the arcanist we sent to the Agharta Academy of Magic as your attendant served you well on the battlefield.”

Mara nodded and said, “He is a loyal ally, a competent spellcaster and an excellent soldier. I believe that he will continue to serve us well in the days ahead.”

It was not long until Mara’s food arrived and she eagerly ate her breakfast. After finishing up her meal, Mara informed her parents that she had someone else to go locate and meet with. The Winslow Heiress was determined to secure Bakaria’s independence. She knew that her grand goal would be best achieved through the use of political maneuvering and mobilizing her government and citizenry towards the common end of secession. However, she also knew that she needed someone who operated “in the dark” in order to maximize her chances of success. Where diplomacy might fail, knowing the right people and the right information could succeed.

Mara ended up finding the person she was looking for in one of the palace’s waiting rooms. Inside of the elegantly decorated space Victor Nikolov was talking with a tall and muscular human woman with flowing brunette hair. The statuesque woman looked to be in her early twenties and was dressed in all-black casual clothing. As for Victor, he was wearing brown pants and a dark blue casual shirt.

Victor, who had returned to Bakaria a few days early after staying with Mara for most of her vacation in Southern Fadalia, smiled over at his Lady and saluted her. The woman in black also saluted Mara and smiled over at her.

Victor said to Mara, “You do love that outfit, My Lady. I guess you like to remind everyone that you will one day be the mistress of this palace. Either way, it is great to see you again. You must be happy to be back home.”

Mara nodded after rolling her eyes at Victor’s initial comment. She then smiled over at the tall woman and said, “Isabella Vladis, it has been quite some time, hasn’t it.”

Isabella, who had been leaning against a gilded table, nodded and replied, “Yes it has. You know that I would have gladly gone off to war with you and Victor here… if it weren’t for the United Church’s policies.”

Mara’s face took on a more serious look. She knew that Isabella was not supposed to be alive according to the Domain of Terranor’s laws. Mara and her family has sheltered Isabella secretly for years. In exchange, Isabella had become the leader of the Bakarian Intelligence Services. In other words, their spymaster. Legally, Bakaria was not even allowed to operate its own intelligence service. Mara knew well that Isabella had a very personal reason for wanting Bakaria to become independent.

Victor added, “We would have loved to have you, Isabella. Obviously, the Domain’s Army would have court martialed Mara and I and executed you without trial, had they discovered your parentage. You know well that brining you along simply would not have been worth the risk.”

Isabella solemnly nodded, agreeing with Victor. She then said, “Such is the fate of someone like me. My father having been a vampire is no blessing to me.”

Mara interjected, “That is one of the reasons we need to establish our independence from the Domain and their ruling church. Isabella, I came to find you for a specific reason.”

Isabella nodded at her Lady and stood up straight. She asked, “So, do what do we owe the pleasure of your presence?”

Mara chuckled, not entirely sure of how sarcastic Isabella was being. She then continued, “In two weeks at most, I plan to go before the Bakarian parliament and attempt to convince them that now is the time to secede from the Domain of Terranor. I know that it is sadly possible that the Domain will attempt to use its considerable military power to try and prevent our secession. I would rather not have to fight for Bakarian freedom, but I am willing to do so if it becomes the only option. What I want you and our other agents to do is look for some way to bolster our militia’s strength. We have a good number of competent soldiers on our side. Many of them are also veterans of the recent war. However, even with a strong defensive advantage and possibly the help of the other Northern Provinces, we are badly outnumbered. I would like to even the odds as much as possible.”

Isabella thought for a moment. She then suggested, “I am not sure if there is any foreign state that would be willing to openly aid us against the Domain of Terranor. The Domain itself has received much of the international credit for bringing about the end of the Eulidian Empire. Even if they act in a truly hypocritical way, I am not sure if even the Fadalians would want to cross them now. …However, there is one other option, sub-optimal as it is.”

Mara raised an eyebrow and asked Isabella, “What is that option?”

Isabella replied, “My lady, I think that our best bet would be to look for a substantial and reputable mercenary company who we could pay to bolster Bakaria’s militia. Soldiers motivated by profit might be more willing to aid us than a foreign state with a reputation to keep up.”

Mara nodded in understanding and told Isabella, “I will defer to your expertise in this field. I want you to rally our intelligence agents and get to work looking for a suitable mercenary company to hire immediately. We will not want to waste any time. If things go well, we will not need the mercenaries’ help and they will get paid for being on standby with little risk to them. If armed conflict erupts, then we will need all the help we can get to stave off a possible invasion.”

Victor asked Mara, as Isabella saluted the two of them and left the room, “What will you do now? Parliament will still need to be convinced and the populace still needs to be rallied?”

Mara nodded and replied, “I will get to work on gathering information about the issues our parliament cares about most from my parents and others. I need to try and bring together as strong majority if I want to get a declaration of intent to secede passed. After that, we will need to get the populace behind the declaration. Ultimately, we will have to meet with representatives of the Domain of Terranor and try to negotiate our departure.”

Victor added, as the two of them left the room to head to the palace library, “You know that the Domain and its rulers in the United Church will be reluctant to let us leave. They know that the other Northern Provinces will likely want to follow our lead. Once they let us secede, they will probably have to let them do the same.”

Mara simply nodded and replied, “I am not opposed to starting a broader Northern Independence Movement. The more the merrier as far as I am concerned. We may even end up forming a mutual defense confederation with the other Northern nations once we are free of the Domain’s control. For now, I think we have some research to do and I have my address to parliament to prepare.”

Victor nodded as they neared the palace’s library. He had learned from experience that Mara Winslow was not an easy woman to dissuade once she had her mind set on something.


	3. Preparing the Address

It had been five days since Mara Winslow had first woken up back in her own bed in Narvograd Palace. In the time since she had first returned home, the young heiress had been hard at work with Victor Nikolov by her side. The two of them had been pouring over government documents and newspaper articles in the palace library. Mara’s intent was to find out the general mood and goals of the various factions in Bakaria’s fifty-member parliament. She hoped to use that information to discern what the main parliamentary objections to Bakarian secession would be. Once she knew the opposing arguments she would be facing, she could come up with preemptive counter-arguments. 

While the office of the Lordship of Bakaria still held symbolic and practical authority, the parliament was what passed laws and resolutions. In many cases, the current Lord or/and Lady’s signature on a new law was more of a “rubber stamp” then anything. When Mara had been a young girl, she had always wished that the executive office of Bakaria had more power vested in it. She had thought that things would be run much more smoothly if the executive nobles could enact whatever laws they wanted to. However, she had matured over the years and come to fear what even those with the best intentions could do with unchecked power.

Her understanding of the value of popular governance had come to a head when she was serving in the Cerberus Battalion under Captain Antonio Brown Woodstock during the recent war. Captain Woodstock was around Mara’s age. However, he had already become a war hero and a living legend known as the _Avenging Blade _because of _Fury _the massive greatsword he carried into battle. While serving under Antonio Woodstock, Mara had listened to him talk time and time again about the importance of personal freedom and civil liberties in a just society. A self-styled freedom fighter, Antonio had relished fighting the imperialist Eulidians. Mara had not blamed him, even though his bloodlust was occasionally unsettling. Like the Order of Light, the former rulers of Terranor, the Church of Eulidia regularly executed homosexuals, who they considered to be “Demons.” Captain Woodstock had wanted to take the fight deep into Eulidia if necessary and force them to change, or even disband, their church. However, the Eulidian government had surrendered before that became a possibility. Since the war had ended, Mara had heard that her old Captain had been promoted to head up the Terranoran Holy Order of Knights as its newest Knight Captain.

As Mara and victor were standing in the library and Mara was reading over a speech given by a parliamentarian regarding the importation of food from other Terranoran provinces, the young heiress thought, “I need to send an apology letter, or even a telephone call, to Knight Captain Woodstock. I should apologize for missing his wedding while I was in Fadalia. I hope that he and Sandra are happy together…”

Victor then snapped Mara out of her thoughts by telling her, “My Lady, I believe Isabella is here to see us.”

Mara whirled around to see Isabella Vladis, wearing her usual black, standing in the doorway to the palace library. Mara quickly beckoned her spymaster inside.

Isabella closed the door behind her as she stepped inside the library. Mara sat down on a small chair next to the table where she had placed a series of piles of newspapers and documents. Isabella, then reported, “My Lady, I have some news regarding the search for potential mercenary allies.”

Mara looked intrigued and asked Isabella, “What news do you have? I would hope that you found a company willing to provide their services to our cause.”

Isabella smiled over at her Lady and then replied, “I believe that I have. I managed to meet with a Eulidian defector who went by Mr. Forrester. He has been in the area hoping to procure some secondhand Vargas Technologies-built weapons for his employer.”

Mara asked, “I take it that this Forrester fellow’s employer is who we want to meet with?”

Isabella nodded and explained, “Mr. Forrester’s employer goes by Captain Talia Fujiwhara. She is the leader of a group of currently-unemployed mercenaries calling themselves the ‘War Tigers.’”

Victor interjected, “If memory serves, the Fujiwhara family was reputed to be one of the higher-ranking families in the Fadalian Yakuza, the main organized crime syndicate in that country. They are said to be a tiger-patterned feloid family, so that would explain the mercenary company’s name.”

Mara was impressed by Victor’s knowledge. She assumed that he had to have picked that tidbit up back when they were fighting to drive the Eulidians out of Fadalia. She then said, “Even if this Captain Fujiwhara is involved with organized crime, she could be a useful ally if we can come to an arrangement with her. I will admit to being a bit concerned, assuming that she actually is a member of a crime family. However, we may not have that many other options. Most mercenaries will probably not want to cross a superpower like the Domain of Terranor. Please continue, Isabella.”

Isabella continued, “From what Mr. Forrester told me, Captain Fujiwhara is an expert infiltrator and skirmisher with some minor magical talent at her disposal. She is more than willing to put herself in harm’s way in order to see that a contract is fulfilled. She also holds herself to high standards of professionalism and will honor any deal that she has made with a client, barring truly momentous circumstances. If you wish, Lady Mara, I can have a message sent to him today requesting a meeting with Captain Fujiwhara and her personal assistant at any location we specify. Since the War Tigers are currently based out of Tosada Island, which is located roughly between here and Fadalia north across the ocean, it would take some time for them to arrive. Still, I have found no other options worth pursuing as of now.”

Mara nodded and told Isabella, “In that case, please have someone contact this Mr. Forrester and tell him that I would like to meet with Captain Fujiwhara and her assistant whenever they can arrive in Narvograd. We will probably want to meet somewhere more private than the palace, of course.”

Isabella saluted Mara and then departed the room. After her spymaster left, Mara returned to her research.

After about another hour of pouring over parliamentary documents, Mara collapsed into a larger armchair in a corner of the library. She was exhausted from the day’s work. As her brain was trying to recover from hours of intense research, Victor looked over at her, obviously slightly concerned.

Victor then asked Mara, “Why don’t we get some dinner? Isabella can probably join us since she has surely sent someone to contact Mr. Forrester by now.” 

Mara simply nodded in agreement. She then managed to haul herself up from her chair slowly. She then followed Victor down to the same dining room where she had met up with her parents after returning home. After dinner, Mara went right to bed. She knew that she would need a long rest after her day of research. Fortunately, she was now pretty sure she had all the information she needed about Bakaria’s current parliament. She just had to craft a speech that would address the main concerns that could lead to a majority of parliamentarians rejecting her secession proposal. Mara also knew that once the Bakarian parliament hopefully accepted her proposal, they would not want to announce it to the public immediately. She would want to figure out a couple more things before her intentions were made public.

The next day, just after lunch, Mara met with Victor and Isabella back in the palace library. She had done a final review of the most helpful documents and articles she had studied earlier before lunch. Victor and Isabella were both sitting down as Mara stood in front of them with a clipboard holding some notes in hand.

Mara began, looking down at the clipboard briefly, “I believe that I have isolated the primary concerns that members of our parliament would have regarding secession from the Domain of Terranor. I will list them for the two of you to see what you think. I have already prepared possible rhetorical counters to these points. However, I thought that I should review them before I actually craft my address to parliament. As it stands, I have not yet asked to address parliament. I will most likely do so tomorrow.”

Isabella mentioned, “Per your request, I was able to make contact with Oliver Forrester, the War Tigers’ representative, yesterday. He will do his best to contact Captain Fujiwhara for us and see if a meeting with her in Narvograd can be arranged.”

Mara nodded back at Isabella and then cleared her throat. She soon began, “The first major concern that could arise regarding secession is trade with the rest of Terranor. Many members of parliament value our trading relationships with other continental provinces being backed by the Domain’s overarching government. My plan to counter that is to agree to a clause in any secession agreement we propose allowing for an international free trade zone to be maintained between Bakaria and the Domain. If we can leave the Domain’s political authority, but retain a peaceful relationship with them, then we can facilitate a continuation of positive trade relations.”

Victor and Isabella seemed to following along for the time being. Mara took a deep breath and then continued, “The second major concern that opponents of the secession proposal could voice is that without the Domain’s army, we would be more vulnerable to military conquest. My counters to that are that most of the orc and giant tribes in the far north were either civilized or defeated when the Domain was solidified after the fall of the Order of Light. We do not have any immediate military threats, since the other Northern Provinces view us as a regional leader. In fact, it is very likely that if all, or most, of the Northern Provinces seceded, we could form some sort of mutual defense alliance with them as independent states. It is also not very likely that a foreign power would attack us if we managed to leave the Domain. They would not see us as worth invading, since we would still be located on the northern border of a superpower.”

Mara took one more deep breath and finished, “The final main concern involves how we will convince the Domain of Terranor to let us secede in the first place. Many citizens of the Northern Provinces who have suggested the idea of secession earlier have been rebuffed by claims that the Domain would take harsh, and potentially violent, action against any provinces that try to secede. I have a multi-pronged answer to that problem. For one, I will make it very clear that any statement of intent to secede that Bakaria produces will indicate a clear desire to avoid armed conflict with the Domain. We will simply affirm our right as a nation to leave the pseudo-empire that has kept us constrained since our country was founded. We will be willing to negotiate a reasonable secession deal with representatives of the Domain of Terranor. We also do not want to become enemies or rivals of the Domain once we secede. We want to have friendly relations with our neighbors, regardless of how powerful they are compared to us.”

Victor told Mara, after she finished, “It sounds like you have the three main objections figured out. I guess it is up to you to craft your address and deliver it to our parliament. I wish you the best of luck. Knowing you, even if the initial vote fails, you will try to get more legislators sympathetic to your cause elected in the next cycle and try again.”

Isabella then added, “The next election is this fall… Regardless, is there anything else you would have me do to assist with your independence plan, Lady Mara?”

Mara nodded at Isabella and then ordered, “I want you to take stock of all of the agents you have outside of Bakaria. Once the secession is officially and publically announced, we need to be able to gauge how the general public across Terranor feels about it. We need to be able to spread the anti-hypocrisy message I mentioned before to as much of the public as possible. Even if the War Tigers come to our aid, I am not sure if we can withstand a full assault by the Domain of Terranor’s army. We want to head off a war in whatever ways we can.”

Isabella nodded and saluted Mara. Then, the trio left the room. Mara had her speech to write, Isabella had agents to contact and direct and Victor was going to keep practicing his battle spells. He could end up needing them again if Mara’s worst fears about the future came true.


	4. The Bakarian Parliament

The next day, Mara woke up bright and early. After getting dressed and eating breakfast with her mother, she wrote down a formal request to address the Bakarian Parliament in one week. She handed off her letter to a trusted servant. The servant was to deliver her request to the Parliament building located not far from Narvograd Palace.

Later that day, after receiving confirmation that her request to address Parliament had been accepted, Mara began work on the speech that she was to give before parliament. She had only given herself a week to finish her address. However, considering her strong work ethic when she set her mind to something, Mara was confident that she could finish the speech well within the time she had allotted herself.

Over the next six days, Mara sequestered herself in the palace library where she focused on writing up her speech. She wanted to make it relatively brief, but poignant. Therefore, she spent most of her time after having written her rough draft cutting the speech down and refining it. 

On the day before Mara was to deliver her address, she met with Isabella and Victor in a small conference room in the palace. Isabella had informed Victor, who had informed Mara, that she had some important news to share. Mara had finished her address, allowing her some time to listen to the new developments.

Once the trio was gathered in the conference room and the door was shut behind them, Mara asked Isabella, “So, what have you uncovered? You said that you had news to share with us.”

Isabella nodded and explained, “I was able to meet with Oliver Forrester again yesterday. He has informed me that Captain Fujiwhara and her personal assistant are now both well on their way here from Tosada Island. If they stay on schedule, they will arrive in two days. They booked passage on a fast ship headed for our port as soon as Oliver was able to reach them. It sounded like Talia Fujiwhara is very interested in making a deal with us, even if it means that her forces remain on standby while we negotiate with the Domain of Terranor.”

Mara replied, “Excellent! It sounds like we may have found a good partner in the War Tigers. Now, when and where does Captain Fujiwhara want to meet with us?”

Isabella said, “We are hoping to meet in the evening on the day she and her assistant arrive, actually. Oliver and I have determined that the back room of the Drunken Dragon Tavern near the docks can be rented out for the meeting. The location should be discreet enough for our purposes. The proprietor knows me and is more than willing to take my money. Also, the back room can be accessed without having to go through the main tavern. That means that your chances of being recognized are minimal. I will be going with you, of course.”

Victor added, “I must also request to attend the meeting. If Talia Fujiwhara is connected to the Fadalian Yakuza, then I am not sure if we can trust her. I will refrain from saying anything that could jeopardize us making a deal with her. However, you never know where you stand with people who fight purely for profit.”

Mara was actually slightly surprised by Victor’s sudden display of principals. She nodded and stated, “Your request is granted, Victor. We will depart for the Drunken Dragon Tavern in two evenings. Isabella, you will also accompany us, as you said earlier. I look forward to meeting this Captain Fujiwhara myself. I am interested to learn more about her personal skillset and what forces she has at her disposal.”

Isabella and Victor both nodded. After that, Mara continued, “As for me, I have now completed my address to be delivered to our Parliament tomorrow afternoon. I will be delivering the speech myself. I must admit that it has been awhile since I have had to speak before a large audience. However, I have been practicing the speech quite frequently. A lot is riding on my speech tomorrow. I will have to give it my all.”

Isabella then added, “I wish that I could be there to see you give your address, My Lady. However, we all know the risks that would carry. I wish you the best of luck, the sooner we are out of the United Church’s Domain, the sooner I can live openly and without fear.”

Victor simply nodded, he then looked over at Mara and told her, “I will at least be there, as will your parents, Lady Mara. I wish you the best of luck as well. This country’s future, and maybe the future of all Northern Terranor rests with you.”

Mara blushed slightly and then nodded seriously. She declared, “I do not intend to let you two, or our nation, down. Tomorrow, I will address parliament and attempt to convince them to privately move to begin secession proceedings. I will see this nation, our home, become independent!”

Victor and Isabella both saluted Mara, who then told Isabella, “Please tell Oliver Forrester that I approve of our choice of meeting location. Now, I need to go practice my speech a couple more times before tomorrow.”

Everyone then departed the conference room. Isabella went to go meet with Oliver, Victor went to go get some food and Mara went to her bedroom to practice her speech again.

The next morning, after eating lunch with her parents and Victor, Mara arrived at the Bakarian Parliament building. She was wearing her usual formal clothes and had her rapier, a gift from her parents given when she was sent to the Agharta Military Academy, at her belt.

Mara walked confidently into the waiting room nearby the parliament’s main chamber and sat down. She had been inside of the chamber many times before. However, she had never had to deliver a speech to parliament by herself before. Usually that was something one of her parents, or a member of parliament did. Still, Mara was undeterred. She knew the importance of this day. With any luck, this would be the beginning of the end for the Domain of Terranor’s hold on the continental north.

It was not long until Mara heard the parliament’s guard captain call out, “Now, as scheduled, Lady Mara Alastair Winslow has come to address this honored body on a subject she considers to be of critical national importance. If it pleases the Parliament, may I present Lady Mara Alastair Winslow.”

Mara confidently walked out onto a raised platform that ran into the center of the parliament chamber. She quickly reached the podium at the center of the wood-paneled, roughly circular, chamber. She placed her written notes on the podium and looked out at the well-dressed members of her nation’s legislature. They were all politely clapping for her. In the designated audience seats, she saw Victor, her parents and a few others.

Mara knew that a few Bakarian legislators wanted to reduce the offices of Lord and Lady to a mere figurehead and give all power to the parliament. They hoped to then give limited executive power over to a prime minister. However, Mara was not in the chamber to debate her legitimacy as the future head of state of Bakaria. She was there to convince a majority of the fifty legislators to support her ambitious and risky goal, Bakarian secession from the Domain of Terranor.

When the clapping died down completely, Mara cleared her throat and then began, “Esteemed members of parliament. I have asked to come before you today to present a course of action for our nation that I have contemplated for years leading up to this moment. I only ask that all of you lend me your ears and hear me out. The issue I have come to ask you to consider, and vote on at your earliest convenience, is one that may be challenging and controversial for many of you. However, it is an issue that I believe has gone unaddressed in this hallowed chamber for far too long. That issue is our independence from the Domain of Terranor.”

Mara could hear the murmurs of the crowd around her immediately after she finished her opening. Many of the whispers sounded nervous. However, many of them sounded excited. Undeterred, she continued, “It is my firmest belief that Bakaria can support herself as an independent nation. We have our own system of government and our own militia and coast guard. We have access to a major port in this very city, our capital. We also have the respect of the other Northern Provinces, who see us as their natural leader. Despite all of our potential for self-governance, we have been shackled to a continental power since our formation as a society. We have never been given the chance to operate as an independent state and face the nations of this world as a sovereign equal. For too long, Bakaria and our neighbors have been forced to live under the dictates of the United Church and its government centered in Agharta. We are not represented in any sort of continental legislature and any serious action our nation takes and any laws we pass or repeal are subject to the Domain’s veto.”

Mara took a deep breath. It was time to try and address the potential counter-arguments she had identified to her confidants earlier. She added, “Many might point out that our status as a province of the Domain of Terranor grants us favorable trade relations with the rest of the continent that we would never want to put at risk. However, I believe that we are well-positioned to maintain solid and friendly trade relations with the Domain even after our secession from its control. We still have access to a major port here in Narvograd and considerable arable land by the standards of the Northern Provinces. I assure you all that I intend to negotiate a fair and reasonable deal with the Domain’s representatives that will ensure that best possible outcome for everyone involved. We will want to be good neighbors as an independent nation. It would be pointless to destroy existing trade relationships when we gain our independence.”

Mara looked out at the assembled legislators and audience members. Seeing that she still seemed to command their attention, she continued, “Another concern that I believe will be voiced in opposition to our secession is that an independent Bakaria would not have the military support of the Domain’s armed forces. Our militia and coast guard forces may be not nearly as large and capable as the continental military is. However, they forget that we have no actively hostile neighbors. The old barbaric tribes of this region were defeated, or civilized, decades ago and most of our neighboring provinces look to us for leadership. In fact, it is my hope that the other Northern Provinces follow our lead in leaving the Domain. Together we can put together a mutual defense coalition that will respond to any international threats that could arise. I should also add that even if the Domain of Terranor no longer backs up our militia with their army, any potential foreign invaders would be unlikely to want to attack a country on the border of such a powerful state, especially a trading partner of theirs.”

Mara was beginning to get somewhat tired from continuous talking. However, she still pressed on, nearing the end of her speech. She explained, “Of course, if we cannot convince the Domain of Terranor to allow us to secede, then what point is there in fantasizing about independence? I know that the Domain will hesitant to allow us to depart from their authority. However, think about the war that Terranor just fought in. I was on the frontlines among the valiant soldiers of the decorated Cerberus Battalion as we fought on foreign soil to push back the Eulidian aggressors and cripple their military might. We did not fight in that intercontinental war to claim territory, despite all of the good will our victory won for the Domain. We fought to free nations and defend the liberty of sentient peoples. If the Domain of Terranor refuses to allow us our independence, then they will have proven themselves to be hypocrites. They will have shown themselves unable to practice what they preach on their own continent. I have no desire to fight a war with the Domain. I want us to remain their allies. I just do not want us under their thumb anymore. We don’t need the United Church’s High Council in Agharta making our decisions for us.”

Mara took one last breath and then finished, “In conclusion, I believe that it is time for Bakaria to begin moving towards seceding from the Domain of Terranor. I humbly ask this parliament to vote in favor of moving to secede. If the measure passes, I only ask that it be kept a secret for now. We will want to announce our intentions at the right moment in front of the right people. Before you vote, honored legislators, just know that this is our time to make history. It is our time to pave the road toward a free future for ourselves and our descendants! Thank you for your time and for your attention.”

After Mara concluded her speech, she was met with uproarious applause from much of her audience, moderate applause from some others and silence from a third faction. She then bowed slightly, turned on her heel and walked back to the waiting room. She needed to meet with Victor and her parents.

It turned out that parliament was willing to debate the independence measure much sooner than Mara had planned for. The legislators spent most of the rest of the day debating the momentous issue. However, they adjourned before any vote was made.

The next day, Mara returned to the parliament chamber after breakfast. She knew that she would need to slip away before dinner to go and meet with Captain Fujiwhara. She watched parliament debating her request until a brief recess for lunch. When the legislators returned, they narrowly agreed to hold the vote. Mara, and the rest of the audience members, had to leave the room as the vote was held.

Mara stood on a balcony outside the parliament building, leaning against a railing. Victor Nikolov was standing next to her. The two old friends stood together in silence. Mara was still impressed at the fire she had lit under many pro-secession legislators. However, she knew that some stiff opposition to independence remained among the membership of Bakaria’s parliament.

Just as Victor had opened his mouth to say something. The Captain of the Parliamentary Guard walked out onto the balcony and saluted the duo.

Mara turned around to face the dark blue and white armored soldier and saluted him back, as did Victor.

The Guard Captain then announced, “My Lady, I have been ordered to inform you that the legislature has approved of your request to begin secession proceedings by a vote of 35 to 15. They have also agreed to wait for your permission to announce the plan to the public….” 

As Mara felt surges of relief, renewed determination and excitement flowing through her, the Guard Captain finished, “However, the agreement that passed also stipulated that you will be given control of the negotiations with the Domain of Terranor. Parliament will have to approve the final secession agreement of course. I have been told that parliament is mostly in agreement that this movement towards independence is yours to command. However, that means that you will harbor primary responsibility for whatever happens from here on out regarding our drive for independence. …Good luck, Lady Winslow.”

As the Guard Captain rapidly turned and left, Mara was left with the impact of what he had said. She understood what he had really meant about her “harboring primary responsibility” for whatever happened next. She would get the credit as a liberator if her plans succeeded. However, she would have to take the blame if her plans failed. Mara knew what she had set in motion. She would now have to see it through to the end.


	5. The War Tigers

It was evening when a cloaked Mara, Victor and Isabella walked towards the Narvograd docks. Mara was still riding high emotionally after the day’s vote. Her nation’s parliament had voted to grant her request to move towards secession from the Domain of Terranor. However, she knew that the future was still uncertain for her and her independence movement.

Once she publically announced her plans to secede from the Domain, it would be the United Church’s turn to react. As the ones pulling the strings of the Domain, it would be up to them how things would proceed once Mara had made Bakaria’s intentions known. The members of the Bakarian Parliament, even those who voted against the secession measure, were bound by the vows of their office to keep the plan a secret. That would be until Mara decided to make the initial public announcement to the press. However, Mara would not want to wait too long to announce her plan to the world. She wanted the recent war with Eulidia to be fresh on the minds of the Terranoran public when she announced her intentions. That way, they would still remember what the overseas conflict had been fought for, freedom and independence.

Now, Mara and Victor were following Isabella to the Drunken Dragon Tavern nearby the Narvograd dockyards. From what Isabella had reported, Captain Talia Fujiwhara, the commander of the War Tigers, and her personal assistant would be waiting in the back room of the establishment to meet with the trio. Victor was mainly coming with Mara and Isabella due to his concerns about Talia Fujiwhara’s possible connections to organized crime in her home country of Fadalia.

Isabella had been told by her contact, Eulidian defector and War Tigers Quartermaster Oliver Forrester, that Captain Fujiwhara valued formality. Therefore, Mara and Victor were both wearing their dark blue and white dress shirts and black pants under their cloaks. Isabella’s uniform was all black, but designed in a similar style to Mara’s. Of course, it had been fitted for her taller and more muscular body.

The trio made sure to stay the back alleys and keep out of sight of any patrolling militia members as they neared the tavern. Mara had her rapier at her side, Victor has his magical talents and Isabella had a finely-crafted ceremonial dagger with her just in case. The trio were not expecting the meeting to go seriously awry. However, they knew that precautions should be taken, on the off-chance that something unexpected happened.

It was not long before Isabella stealthily led Mara and Victor to the back door of the Drunken Dragon Tavern. Mara was no stranger to staying hidden, the Agharta Military Academy had not only trained her as an officer. She had also been trained as a Recon Class Soldier. A major part of the recon units’ job was to locate enemy units while remaining undetected and report back to larger forces. Mara’s training had helped her launch devastating surprise attacks on the Eulidian military multiple times during the last war. Her reconnaissance expertise had been why the Cerberus Battalion had relied on her to handle scouting duty so frequently, including on the final day of the war.

Isabella rapped on the back door of the Drunken Dragon Tavern and it was soon opened by a redheaded human man who was likely in his early twenties. The light-skinned man was wearing a formal dark-blue suit. He had a longsword sheathed at his side, but no other weapons.

The man smiled at the trio and then rapidly ushered them inside. There, they took off their cloaks. Isabella explained, “Lady Mara Winslow, Victor Nikolov, this is Oliver Forrester, my contact from before.”

Mara and Victor both shook Oliver’s hand when he quickly offered it. Oliver then explained, “My Captain and her personal assistant, Natalie, are waiting in the back room for us. Captain Fujiwhara has informed me that she is quite interested in learning more about your situation and making a deal with you, Lady Winslow.”

Mara replied, “In that case, Mr. Forrester, please lead us to your commanding officer. I have been wanting to meet with her as well.”

Oliver simply nodded and then he led the trio the short distance to a door that he then opened. He explained, “I have been told to keep watch outside of the door, just in case the meeting is interrupted.”

Mara nodded back at Oliver. She then walked into the backroom with Isabella and Victor right behind her.

The backroom had a nice dark green carpet, one closed window, a hardwood table with multiple wooden chairs around it and an opened cabinet with a few bottles of alcohol and glasses to pour drinks into inside of it. The woman standing in the room was wearing a black kimono. She had two claw-like metal weapons Mara did not recognize. One of the claw-blades was placed at each of the woman’s hips. The woman was about as tall as Isabella, easily six feet. She had short black hair at the top of head. However, the rest of her muscular body was covered in thin fur patterned after that of a tigress. Talia Fujiwhara was indeed a feloid woman and one with tiger blood at that.

Sitting at a chair nearby Talia was a human girl who looked around eighteen years old. She was wearing a light-blue sparkly dress with a knife at her waist. Her skin tone was light and her eyes were bright blue. Strangely, the girl’s long and straight hair was silver. Mara wondered why that was, she had never met a young human with silver hair before. Mara could only assume that the girl was Natalie, Talia Fujiwhara’s personal assistant who had been mentioned earlier.

Mara, Victor and Isabella all walked into the backroom. As Oliver closed the door behind them, Talia stepped forward to meet the new arrivals. The girl in the light blue dress did the same thing. She ended up standing just behind and slightly to the side of her boss.

Talia silently looked over the formally dressed trio and then bowed slightly. She looked at Mara and asked, “I take it that you are the Lady Mara Winslow of Bakaria?”

Mara nodded and replied, “I take it that you are Captain Talia Fujiwhara of the War Tigers?”

Talia replied, “That I am.” She then looked over to Isabella and asked, “I assume that your brunette associate is Isabella Vladis, your spymaster? Who is the half-elf gentleman?”

Victor spoke for himself, saying, “My name is Victor Nikolov, Attendant Arcanist to Lady Winslow.”

Talia smiled and nodded, saying, “I see. Well then, I see no point in standing on ceremony any longer. Why don’t we sit down and discuss practical matters?” Talia then waved a hand towards the table.

As everyone sat down around the table, Mara asked Talia, “Captain Fujiwhara, I must ask what those weapons at your waist are? I have never seen blades like those before.”

Talia placed one of her claw weapons on the table. It featured a handle attached at two points to a bar with three long and sharp blades sticking out of it. Every blade pointed forward. The entire weapon was painted a gold color and looked tricky to wield effectively. Talia then explained, “This is a ‘Tiger Claw’ an old Fujiwhara family weapon dating back centuries. It is useful for hacking, stabbing and climbing some surfaces. They are normally wielded in pairs, like mine.”

Suddenly, the silver-haired girl told Mara, “You seem to have quite a nice rapier, Lady Winslow. Seems fitting for someone of your status.”

Mara looked over at the smiling young woman who seemed quite mismatched with the imposing Talia. She replied, “My blade is actually enchanted to cause frozen wounds on those it strikes. I was thinking of naming it something like _Howl of the North_. However, I still have not decided just yet.”

Talia sighed a bit and then calmly said, “Forgive my rudeness, this is my personal assistant, Natalie Tolston. She insists on going most places that I go. She is far more of a competent infiltrator and fighter than her appearance would indicate.”

Natalie, who had taken out a notepad and a pen, simply smiled and nodded. Mara was still wondering why Natalie’s hair was silver. However, she did not want to ask another non-sequitur question.

Talia asked Mara, “Lady Winslow, I think we should begin discussing the reason Natalie and I have made the journey here. According to Isabella Vladis, you wish to make a deal with my mercenary company to employ our services?”

Mara nodded and replied, “Of course, let us delay no longer. The goings on that I am going to inform the two of you about are to be considered Bakarian state secrets. I have heard that you have a reputation for professionalism, Captain Fujiwhara. I expect you to keep quiet about what I am about to disclose until such as time as I deem it appropriate. Do you understand?”

Talia nodded and said, “I promise that Nat and I will not reveal any confidential information you tell us in this meeting us to anyone else without your permission. So, why does a province of the mighty Domain of Terranor require the aid of foreign mercenaries like us?”

Mara continued, hoping that she could trust Talia’s word and Isabella’s intel on her, “Yesterday, my nation’s parliament approved a measure, at my request, to secretly begin planning to secede from the Domain of Terranor. I am tired of my homeland being subject to the laws and religious dictates of the United Church’s High Council in Agharta. I believe that Bakaria declaring its intention to secede will lead to a number of other Northern Provinces doing the same. I am honestly hoping to avoid armed conflict with the Domain’s military. However, I know that our domestic militia and coast guard forces are limited. Even with the aid of the other Northern Provinces, we will be outnumbered and outgunned if armed conflict breaks out. I want to make a contract with your company to have your force stationed in Bakaria in case a war of independence becomes necessary.”

Talia seemed to be deep in thought as Mara finished her statement. Natalie, who had been taking notes, was looking inquisitively over at her boss, as were Mara, Victor and Isabella. The Captain of the War Tigers seemed to snap out of her contemplation. After refocusing herself, she explained, “You should know that we only have around two-hundred soldiers, Lady Winslow. …However, you still might have come to the right people. If the Domain plans to attack you, and possibly the other Northern Provinces, when you announce your plans for secession, you will not be able to resist them in a fair fight. Nat and I specialize in infiltration, sabotage, assassination, etcetera. We also have quite a few other experienced recon units and night fighters in our ranks. If you hire us and it does come to a war, then we could prove to be a considerable asset in conducting guerilla warfare against the United Church’s armies. We would also place our conventional frontline squads at your disposal. As you must know, hiring us on won’t come cheap, especially considering the risks involved. Of course, there is always the chance that we won’t need to fight on your behalf at all….”

Mara replied, “I might want you and your other infiltrators to help me with intelligence gathering and counterintelligence, even if I get my way and we avoid armed conflict. Diplomacy can be a dangerous game. I am willing to get a flat rate of basic pay negotiated for your company’s presence in Bakaria. I will get all of the paperwork approved for you to base your troops in the vicinity until we have successfully seceded from the Domain. Pay bonuses will be applied based on the number of combat operations your forces take part in. I would like for you to send for the rest of your company as soon as possible. I am sure that we can come to a reasonable agreement in terms of your payment.”

Talia smiled at Mara and said to her, “It seems that we are in business, My Lady. I can assure you that you will not regret this decision, let’s just say that I can’t help but sympathize with those seeking independence…even though I still insist on pay for practicing my trade.”

Natalie added, “We will stand by you for as long as you are our client, Lady Winslow. Thankfully, the two of us already brought all of our gear over from Tosada. We also did look into arrangements for shipping our forces south to Narvograd. You just need to get it approved, along with our payment.”

As Talia nodded, Mara extended a hand to Talia and said, “To a fruitful partnership. With any luck, Bakaria will get her freedom and you will get your money.”

As Talia shook Mara’s hand, something seemed to occur to her. The feloid mercenary asked, “Speaking of intelligence gathering… I heard a few weeks ago that Sugaru Zaki, second youngest son of the southern branch of the Zaki noble family was engaged to none other than yourself. Has he heard of your grand plans for Bakaria?”

Mara blushed, impressed with Talia’s probable network of informants. As Victor and Isabella looked over at Mara, anticipating a response, Mara replied, “You are correct. I met Sugaru Zaki during the early days of the Fadalian Campaign. He does know about my plans for Bakarian independence. We have arranged for him to come south to Narvograd and for the two of us to be wed once Bakaria’s secession is finalized.”

Natalie added, “We spent some time fighting the Eulidians in northern Fadalia, actually. That was my first time in combat. The Eulidians are quite the intolerant bunch, that’s for sure. We still showed them, right Captain?”

Mara was sure that Natalie could not be Fadalian. As she was pondering the girl’s origins, Talia smiled her assistant and nodded, “Yes, that we did. I have one more thing to ask, before we get a rough draft contract going. Didn’t you serve as a lieutenant in the Cerberus Battalion during the last war, Lady Winslow?”

Mara nodded as Natalie got some papers ready. She then asked Talia, “Yes, what of it?”

Talia finished, “Your commanding officer, Antonio Brown Woodstock, is now the Knight Captain of the United Church’s Holy Order of Knights. He is one warrior I would never face in battle. The _Avenging Blade_, as they call him has one of the highest confirmed kills of any Terranoran human soldier in history. Anyone trying to fight him, especially alone, would have to be insane.”

Mara knew all too well of her old Captain’s exploits. How many foes he had slain and how many times he had defied death. He was a living legend in Terranor, and abroad, at only the age of twenty-one. However, she knew that he would not want to stand in the way of Bakaria’s independence, he had always put the ideals of freedom before all else.

As that evening wore on, Mara and Talia hashed out the contract for the War Tigers’ services. After that, Mara, Isabella and Victor, returned to the palace. Another piece of Mara’s plan had fallen into place. Now, the next step would be to determine when to announce the secession plan to the public.


	6. Going Public

A week had passed since Mara Winslow had contracted the services of Talia Fujiwhara’s War Tigers. Since she and Talia had made their initial agreement, Mara had been able to get the War Tigers’ starting payment and their stationing in Bakaria approved. She had done so using the power granted to her by Bakaria’s parliament when they passed the secession measure. Now, the question remained of when Mara was going to announce her secession plans to the public.

Mara had just walked into one of Narvograd Palace’s sitting rooms. Victor and Isabella were there awaiting her, as they often were. Sitting on Isabella’s lap was a large white and grey panting dog with moderately thick fur covering her entire body. The dog was too large to fit comfortably on most people’s laps. However, she narrowly fit on the lap of someone of Isabella’s impressive stature.

Mara looked quizzically over at Isabella and the large dog sitting on her lap after having entered the sitting room. Isabella quickly explained, as the dog looked over at Mara and her tail began to wag, “I never understood why Nalia here likes me. Yet she does?”

Mara simply walked over to where Isabella was sitting with Nalia and patted the canine on the head. Nalia was in fact one of her father’s dogs. The current Lord of Bakaria spent quite a bit of his time raising and training his pack of malamutes.

Victor looked over and asked Mara, “To what do we owe the honor of your presence today, Lady Winslow?”

Mara chuckled and rolled her eyes a bit at Victor’s half-joking formality. She then explained, “I have just arranged for a press conference to be held on the front steps of this very palace in one week. By that time, I plan on writing a short speech to give to the press. As you two can probably tell, I plan to announce Bakaria’s intention to secede at that press conference. I also plan to formally ask the Domain of Terranor to send representatives to meet with us for the purpose of negotiating a secession agreement at the press conference.”

Isabella and Victor both nodded excitedly as Mara finished her statement. Isabella then added, “I am cautiously optimistic that I will finally be able to stop living in hiding soon. Once the United Church no longer has legal authority over Bakaria, I will finally be able to move out of the palace… not that living here hasn’t been nice.”

Victor mentioned, “For now, I assume that we are still going ahead with our deal with the War Tigers? Their Captain was certainly an impressive woman, regardless of her family’s reputation. However, we have yet to test the mercenaries’ stealth and combat prowess. I am curious to see if Talia’s claims regarding her company’s capabilities are backed up by reality.”

Mara noted, “With any luck, we will not have to test the War Tigers combat skills. Remember that they are here to help improve our odds of surviving a worst-case-scenario, open warfare with the Domain of Terranor. We want to resolve this situation at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield…”

At that point, there was a knock at the door. Mara turned around to see a human Narvograd Palace guard wearing his well-decorated dark blue and white armored uniform carefully opening the door. The young man said, “Lady Mara, there is a young woman at the palace gates who wanted to speak with you personally. She said that her name is Natalie and that she is bearing a message from someone named Talia? She said that you would know what that means. Strangely, we did not notice her until she was standing right in front of the outer gate. She seems to be unarmed and unarmored. The palace arcanist who checked her out did not detect any major magical auras around her…”

Mara interjected, “I know who the girl is. Please send her in and have her brought to me.” Mara was wondering what message Natalie was bringing her from Captain Fujiwhara. She also realized that Natalie had demonstrated her ability to avoid unwanted detection. Narvograd Palace’s guards normally kept a good watch on anyone straying too close to the gates. She had likely been well trained in the art of stealth by her Captain.

The palace guard saluted Mara and then rapidly departed. He returned with another guard in around ten minutes. With the two soldiers was Natalie Tolston. The young woman was very casually dressed, unlike when Mara had met her in the back room of the Drunken Dragon Tavern. Natalie was wearing a basic light blue shirt that exposed her midriff and a short pair of black pants and black boots. As the palace guard had said earlier, she was unarmed.

Mara told the guards, “Thank you. Now, you may leave us.”

The two guards looked vaguely skeptical of who Natalie was. However, they both dutifully saluted Mara and then left the room.

Natalie then looked over at Nalia, who was still laying across Isabella’s lap. She smiled and remarked, “What an adorable dog.”

Mara replied, as Nalia simply wagged her tail and panted, “My father raises her breed. The malamute is native to Northern Terranor. I think that Fadalia’s most famous breed is the Shiba Inu, if I’m correct?”

Natalie shrugged her shoulders and replied, “As you can probably tell, I’m not Fadalian. …Oh yes, I had a message for you. Talia says that our main force should be on its way to Bakaria soon. We are pleased and impressed that you were able to get all the appropriate paperwork approved so quickly. Regardless, once our company is based in and around Narvograd, we will be at your command. For the time being, Talia and I will be able to carry out any orders you might have for us. …That is all.”

Victor then asked, “Miss Tolston, I was wondering… why is your hair silver?”

Mara gave Victor a look as Natalie blushed awkwardly and Isabella face-palmed. She had been wanting to ask Victor’s question herself. However, she had not wanted to be rude.

Natalie seemed to cringe for a moment. She soon regained her composure and explained, “You see, I am an orphan. I have no idea who my parents were, all I ever could find was a last name. When I was younger, I was kidnapped off of the streets of Tosada Island’s largest city and sold off to be a test subject by a small cabal of rogue arcanists operating out of the island’s jungles. I was rescued when Talia and her fledgling mercenary company were hired by the local government to eliminate the cabal. My blonde hair was turned permanently silver during the experiments, even though most of the other effects of the magical testing have thankfully worn off.”

Victor looked sorry that he had asked. Isabella morbidly offered, “Well, my parents are dead and Victor’s family practically disowned him years ago. I think that Lady Mara is the only one here with a stable family situation.”

Natalie simply nodded and continued, “After I was rescued, I asked Talia for a job. She took pity on me and accepted. At first, I was just doing odd jobs and taking notes for her. Later on, I became her apprentice. Ever since I was rescued, I have vowed to never look back. Life’s ups and downs are much easier to take with a smile on my face after what I have been through. It all seems much easier in comparison.” Natalie finished her statement and then smiled, saying, “Sorry if my story depressed any of you… I should be going now; Oliver was going to see if we could rent a boat and go fishing while we are still waiting for the others to arrive.”

Mara awkwardly said, “It’s fine. I will have the guards see you out.” She then thought, “Talia Fujiwhara… she is a professional mercenary. Someone who fights and kills for monetary reward above all else. Still, maybe there is a decent person under her profit-focused exterior? She did say that she was sympathetic to independence causes?”

The palace guards then came and escorted Natalie outside of the building. As Mara was about to leave to go and work on her press conference speech, Victor told Isabella, “You did not have to tell her about my family situation. You know that I don’t like to talk about that subject.”

Isabella finally managed to lift Nalia off of her lap. She then replied, “You asked her that random personal question. Regardless, I heard from Oliver Forrester that Captain Fujiwhara has not spoken to her parents in years. You and her may have something in common.”

Victor responded, “Maybe that means she is no longer operating as a member of the Yakuza in that case? That admittedly does make me feel more at ease about her presence here.”

Mara finished, “You two can debate Talia’s morality, or what topics are appropriate to talk about, all you want to. I am off to write my speech. I also need to get an initial copy of a pro-secession pamphlet ready. I plan to have them printed en-masse and distributed to our people and possibly other Terranorans.” With that, Mara turned on her heel and left the room.

It was one week from Mara’s meeting with Victor, Isabella and Natalie. Mara was standing in front of Narvograd Palace wearing her formal uniform with her rapier at her belt. In the crowd in front of her were various Terranoran journalists, some members of Bakaria’s parliament, her parents, Victor, a few other Bakarian public figures and some representatives from the other Northern Provinces. Everyone invited to the press conference had been chosen specifically. No members of parliament who had voted against the independence movement had been invited to the press conference. 

Mara walked up to the podium that had been readied for her. Four palace guards stood behind her, all of them at attention. Mara smiled at the crowd, looked briefly over her notes and began, “Thank you all for coming. I understand that you are busy people and that your time is valuable. With that said, I promise that this announcement is worth listening to. In fact, I believe that it would not be an exaggeration to say that it is an announcement of historic proportions.”

Mara made sure that she had the crowd’s attention. She knew that she was about to make history. She would be the one to announce the first modern Terranoran secession attempt. Mara was filled with personal pride, and more than a little bit of anxiety as she continued, “Without further ado, I officially announce that, less than one month ago, the Bakarian Parliament approved a resolution in favor of seceding from the authority of the Domain of Terranor. They did so at my personal request. I believe strongly that it is time that Bakaria be allowed to pursue her own destiny as an independent nation. It is in the best interests of Bakaria to be no longer subject to the Domain’s laws.”

Most of the people standing in the crowd who had not been aware of Mara’s plans beforehand were speechless. Some of them seemed pleased, many of them were simply shocked. A few surprised murmurs and whispers could be dimply heard from the crowd. However, Mara registered no new emotions on her face. She continued, “Bakaria has her own civil government that can function independently of any outside bodies. I for one am sick and tired of having my nation’s sovereignty denied her. The Domain of Terranor has historically defended Bakaria, and was responsible for the clearing and securing of land that allowed her and her neighbors to be stably founded. However, we see no reason to remain a mere province when we can be an independent state.”

Many members of the crowd were now smiling when they had not been before. The reporters were furiously taking notes and cameras were being readied by their crews. Mara did not want this speech to go on for as long as her earlier address to her parliament. Therefore, she had written it to be considerably shorter. She finished, “We are hoping to begin engaging in secession negotiations with the Domain of Terranor’s representatives as soon as practical. We want to draft an agreement that is fair to all and avoids bloodshed, or even lasting animosity. All that we ask of the Domain and the United Church that rules it is to be true to the principles that we fought together to defend on foreign soil. Freedom, equality, justice and the right to self-determination are all thing worth fighting for. We should be able to come to a mutually fair secession agreement based on our shared values. … I will be taking questions from the press now…”

As Mara had expected, a number of reporter’s hands shot up like bolts of lightning. For the next half hour, the Winslow Heiress answered questions from both reporters and prominent Bakarians. She did her best to assure everyone present that allowing trade between Bakaria and the rest of Terranor to continue unimpeded was a top priority. She also said that whether or not the other Northern Provinces decided to secede as well was up to their governing bodies. Mara also explained that the United Church of God would be allowed to continue having a presence in Bakaria after the secession. However, they would no longer be the de-facto state religion. The local branches of the UCG would have to submit to Bakarian laws when necessary.

When Mara finally decided to stop answering questions, she returned to the palace proper and was met by Victor Nikolov who asked her, “How do you think that went?”

Mara simply replied, “Pretty well, actually. Now, it is the Domain’s turn to respond to our declaration.”

Victor just nodded back at his Lady as the two of them walked together deeper into the palace to meet with Mara’s parents.


	7. The Reaction in the Capital

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It was morning in Agharta, the capital city of the Domain of Terranor. Two days had passed since Mara Winslow had made her public declaration of Bakarian intent to secede from the Domain of Terranor. However, much of the Terranoran populace was still not aware of that development. Most newspapers had readied the story to be their main front-page news on issues distributed two days after the declaration.

One person who had not yet read the day’s paper was Sapphire Cordwin Coril. The famed war heroine was sitting in the kitchen of her family’s house in Agharta and wearing comparatively casual, dark blue and black, clothes for someone of her status. Her light brown hair stretched down past her shoulders, as it had for decades. It was the way that she liked it. Sitting across the table from Sapphire was her younger sister, Sasha Cordwin, who had come over from her apartment to have breakfast. Sasha was wearing a dark purple casual dress. Even after over a century, Sasha still wore her brunette hair shorter than her older sister.

As the two elven women were finishing up their breakfast, Sasha commented, “You know, it had been over a century coming, but I still cannot believe they finally offered you a seat on the High Council and you took it. I always thought you would stay in the army until you grew too old to pick up a weapon. You seemed ok at being passed up to become a High Priestess after we first defeated the Order of Light”

Sapphire sighed a bit. Her younger sister had still not gotten over Sapphire’s recent promotion. She then replied, “One of the other council members was going to retire anyway. After my success leading our expeditionary force, the High Council decided it was time that my contributions were fully acknowledged. I also decided that I could do more for Terranor and the world on the council than in the military. I have heard that old Kylana is planning on ramping up our missionary activities now that the Domain is far more respected internationally. Playing a key role in defeating the Eulidian Empire has greatly increased Terranor’s standing in the world. I want to have a say in where our missionaries go and what sorts of messages they spread.”

Sasha simply nodded and added, “Well, sis, you finally made it to the top. Phineas and Sheila must be very proud of you. I sent Austus a letter to inform him of your promotion. He will hopefully write back soon.”

Sapphire added, “Austus and his husband will probably remain stationed in Fadalia for the time being. I remember Austus telling me he took on the position as military attaché to our new embassy there so as to try and guide Fadalia in a more democratic and equitable direction. They did lose a significant portion of their nobility when the Eulidians invaded, which opens up some opportunities for fairer forces to fill the power vacuum. As for my family, Phineas was just happy that I should no longer be in the thick of battle. He knows as well as anyone the dangers of the battlefield. Sheila was ecstatic. As you know, she has recently been given the position of secondary priestess at a church here in Agharta only about a mile from this house. I made it clear to Sheila that I did not plan to use my new office to pull any strings for her own career in the clergy. Thankfully, the thought had never occurred to her.”

Sasha nodded again and pointed out, “Honestly, I am pretty happy where I am career wise. I am comfortable as a senior instructor at the Agharta Academy of Magic. I would not want to be the headmistress. It would simply be too much responsibility…”

Sapphire rolled her eyes a bit and pointed out, “You are where you always said you wanted to be in terms of vocation. What still worries me is that you are still unmarried after well over a century of being an eligible bachelorette.”

Sasha defensively replied, “I have dated plenty of men, some of them for years! In the end, none of them were a perfect match for me. Maybe my standards are too high, maybe I am comfortable just being Sheila’s aunt and don’t feel like I want my own kids? Even I don’t really know why I…”

As Sapphire was about to try and cut off her younger sister’s ramblings, the door to the kitchen flew open. Standing breathless in the doorway was Sheila Coril, Sapphire’s daughter and only child. Shelia was almost 130 years old, but she still had the look of a woman in her mid-to-late twenties. She shared her mother and aunt’s brunette hair, rather than her father’s orange. Sheila was wearing a white shirt and blue pants with brown boots. Like the two older women, she was also not dressed in working clothes.

Sapphire, looking clearly concerned, turned to her daughter and asked, “Sheila, what is going on. This is a day off for you, I thought you would…”

Sheila interrupted, “Mom, Aunt Sasha, Kylana has called an emergency meeting of the High Council. I was sent to find you. I take it that neither of you read the morning post?”

Sasha worriedly asked, “Are we being invaded? Could it be some hostile force from Dalugon?”

Sheila shook her head rapidly and replied, “It is a problem from the north, not the south. Mom, do you remember someone named Mara Alastair Winslow?”

Sapphire stood up and replied, “Yes I do. She was a lieutenant in Antonio Woodstock’s Cerberus Battalion. I believe that her specialty was scouting and rapid surprise attacks. Come to think of it, I was told once by someone in her unit that she was in line for the Ladyship of Bakaria…”

Sheila exclaimed, “That’s her!”

Sapphire asked, “Did something happen in Bakaria? I don’t know why you would be mentioning her in conjunction with an emergency meeting otherwise.”

Sheila replied, “What happened is that she gave a press conference two days ago declaring that she wants Bakaria to leave the Domain and become its own country.”

Sasha shook her head and said, “That is just silly. Why would they want to leave the umbrella of a superpower and go it alone? Still, if Bakaria were to secede, the other Northern Provinces might join them in their foolishness.”

Sapphire sighed and added, “I guess that this is an emergency. I will get my robes on and make for the Prime Church post haste. Sheila, see if you can inform them that I am on my way. Sasha, see if you can find a current newspaper and read up on what’s going on.”

Sasha half-jokingly saluted her older sister and Sheila took off to deliver the message from her mother. As for Sapphire, she headed right for her wardrobe upstairs and donned her light blue and orange High Priestess’ Robes. She then got her husband’s servants to ready a carriage for her to ride over to the Prime Church. She knew that she would not want to keep Kylana and the other High Council members waiting.

The Prime Church of Agharta was a massive, imposing, stone building painted in a beautiful blue color. The grand house of worship was located at the very center of Agharta’s government district. It was surrounded by a number of major military and civilian facilities. However, it towered above all of the buildings around it. Two impressive spires flanked a massive central tower built above a truly enormous stone dome. This monumental structure was built in the years following the fall of the Order of Light. It was considered the global headquarters of the United Church of God. However, it was also the main place in which major decisions that affected all of Terranor were made.

Sapphire stepped out of her carriage and then briskly walked over to one of the outer wall’s many entrances on the edge of the church’s grand courtyard. Two heavily armored elite blademage guards wearing the light blue and orange uniforms of the Terranoran Army quickly saluted Sapphire. They knew exactly who she was and that they should not question her on her business. She briskly returned the soldiers’ salute and walked right past them.

After entering the prime church, Sapphire easily made it past multiple more layers of security. After that, she made her way to an elevator that took her to the top floor of the central tower. When Sapphire stepped out of the elevator, she saw a woman wearing the same robes she was. Her hair was silvery, straight and long. Her age was indeterminate; it was unclear just by looking at her if she was elderly or youthful. Like Sapphire’s, her eyes glowed with a dim purple light. 

Sapphire recognized her old comrade Kylana, the one who had effectively founded the United Church over one-hundred years ago. Kylana enjoyed presenting herself as a human. However, the truth was that she was a mighty noble dragon. Possessing the both the strength and toughness of a mature dragoness and the mastery of her deity’s purple flame, Kylana was possibly one of the most dangerous beings in Terranor, if not all of Austean.

At the moment, Kylana was pacing back in forth in front of the entrance to the High Council’s chamber. She was clearly frustrated by something. Her hands were balled up into fists and purple smoke was trailing off of them.

Sapphire stepped forward and asked Kylana, somewhat sarcastically, “You seem upset…”

Kylana look up from her pacing and briefly smiled at Sapphire. Her face took on a scowl as she replied, “Yes, yes I am. I take it that you have some awareness of our Bakarian situation… those ungrateful…”

Sapphire interjected, “Sheila told me the basics of what’s going on. Was I the only member of the High Council you were waiting for?”

Kylana shook her head and then replied, “Ernesto Berkman is on his way. Alexander Rosewater and Durkal Stoneshield have both arrived and are waiting in the council chamber. As soon as Ernesto arrives, we will begin the emergency meeting.”

Sapphire nodded as she began to follow Kylana towards the High Council’s meeting chamber. The two of them soon took their seats around the large circular stone table in the center of the chamber. The table was inscribed with the holy symbol of the United Church of God and the walls were decorated with religious iconography and images of the celestial beings that acted as servants and warriors for their god. The one human man in the room, Alexander Rosewater, was an older gentleman. His hair was dark gray, as was his short beard. Durkal Stoneshield, the one dwarven High Priest, was middle aged by his species’ standards. He wore a reddish-brown beard and carried the stocky, broad-shouldered frame of a dwarven man.

It was not long until a human man in his forties with greying blond hair rushed into the room and took his seat without saying anything. Kylana then closed the door to the chamber and began, “Alright, now that Ernesto is here, we can call this emergency meeting of the High Council of the United Church of God to order. As you all should know by now, the reason for this meeting is that the Province of Bakaria on our Northeastern coast has declared her intent to secede from the Domain of Terranor. As the ruling council of this continent, it falls upon us to decide how to respond to their claims that they deserve independence.”

Sapphire spoke up first after Kylana, saying, “As the one who commanded our expeditionary force in the recent war, I believe I understand why the Bakarians are attempting to secede now. Our armies went overseas and fought in battles on foreign soil to defend other people’s right to self-determination against the Eulidian aggressors. When we were at war with a foreign colonial power, our propagandists painted independence as a borderline sacred right. Mara Winslow, the woman who seems to be leading the charge for Bakarian secession, was a Lieutenant under Captain Antonio Woodstock in my expeditionary force. She has frontline experience fighting against colonizers outside of Terranor. Now, it seems that she has come to view us as a sort of colonial power on our own soil.”

Durkal pointed out, “Regardless of how rational the Bakarians’ motivations are for wanting to leave the Domain, they have no legal standing for doing so. There are no provisions in the Domain’s legal code allowing provinces to seek independence. Therefore, they have no right under the law to demand secession.”

Alexander added, “Also, if we allow the Bakarians to secede, they will probably take much of the far north with them. To be honest, many other provinces across the continent could end up leaving the Domain whenever they wanted to if we allow even just Bakaria to secede. Maybe provinces will even try to come and go from our Domain as they please based on how favorable the conditions will be for them?”

Ernesto suddenly seemed to have an epiphany. He explained, “Something just occurred to me… I believe that High Priestess Coril may have been onto this as well... If we refuse to let the Bakarians secede, then they will probably try to paint us in their propaganda as no better than the Eulidians.”

Sapphire nodded and admitted, “That is probably going to be their main propaganda strategy, especially if this situation leads to armed conflict.”

Kylan angrily exclaimed, “The so-called Holy Eulidian Empire was a society of expansionistic racists and murderers! We are here to improve the state of this continent and this world for ALL of its peoples! It was us who overthrew the genocidal Order of Light and brought a just peace to this continent!” She then took a few deep breaths and seemed to calm down.

Sapphire was somewhat surprised, even though she did her best not to show it. Kylana had always seemed unflappably calm to her. Seeing her angry was frankly something of a new development, even after well over a century.

Kylana continued, “We cannot allow these ungrateful fools to secede. Durkal and Alexander both make excellent points about why Bakaria cannot be allowed to leave the Domain. The question now is how exactly do we proceed?”

Sapphire offered, “If we are not going to let them leave the Domain. Then there is no point in meeting them at the negotiating table. They will say that us entering any sort of negotiations with them is an admission on our part that they should be treated as a sovereign entity. I suggest that we put out an official statement to the press and the public. We should indicate that we have no desire to enter into armed conflict with Bakaria. However, we should also make it abundantly clear that we do not recognize the right of any Terranoran province to secede. We will attempt to continue business as usual with regard to Bakaria. We should not blockade them, or otherwise treat them like an independent entity. We will have to hope that they will not try to enforce ‘sovereign borders’ without a formal treaty being signed. If they try to enforce their borders, or attempt anything of the sort, we will have to consider sending in some forces to quickly put an end to their secession movement as bloodlessly as possible.”

Kylana simply nodded and then said, “That seems like a good ‘middle of the road’ proposal, Sapphire. We will draft a statement declaring the legal invalidity of Bakaria’s secession plans and continue to treat them as a province for the time being. We will say that we have no desire to put down the insurrection by force, but we will be ready to deploy forces if they take drastic action first. We do not want to be seen as aggressors or imperialists by our own public.”

The High Council soon had some paper delivered to their chamber by members of their attendant clergy. They then got to work drafting their response to Bakaria’s declaration of secession. They were not going to let Bakaria leave the Domain. However, they also hoped that the problem would soon go away by itself. As for Sapphire, despite having suggested the course of action they were taking, she was worried that Bakaria and Mara Winslow would continue to be thorns in the United Church’s side. She knew that trying to arrest and try the former Lieutenant would only make her a martyr to her supporters. Sapphire also knew that the Winslow Heiress was not likely to give up her plans so easily. The fate of Bakaria was still in question. It would now depend on Mara Winslow’s next move.


	8. The Possibility of Blackmail

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It had been one month since the High Council of the United Church of God has made their response to the Bakarian Declaration of Intent to Secede public. Mara had carefully read the Domain’s official response and found herself quite frustrated by it. It seemed like the rulers of Terranor were seemingly content to wait for the “problem” to go away. The High Council had stated that Bakaria had no legal right to leave the Domain and that they would continue to consider her to be a province with no independent sovereignty. Fortunately, the High Council’s response had also indicated that they had no desire to use their military to force Bakaria back into line. At the same time, they had declared that they were not even going to come to the negotiating table to discuss matters with representatives of Bakaria. Mara had guessed that the High Council had not wanted to negotiate with her because that would give Bakaria the appearance of being a separate entity from the Domain.

In the time since the High Council had responded to Mara’s public declaration, not too much out of the ordinary had happened in Bakaria. The main exception being the arrival of the main force of the War Tigers in Narvograd. Mara had gone before the Bakarian parliament and admitted that she needed to come up with a new plan. She had also indicated that she was still fully committed to her plans and that they were merely dealing with an unfortunate setback. However, she had not been able to come up with any safe way to break the stalemate between the Domain and Bakaria. She knew that if Bakaria did too much to try and enforce its own laws and borders, the Domain’s army would potentially be ordered in, starting the war that she had been sincerely trying to avoid.

In private, Mara had repeatedly expressed her frustrations with the High Council’s response to Victor, Isabella and her parents. The Domain was refusing to agree to negotiations. Mara knew that any new attempts to set up negotiations would be quickly rebuffed by the High Council.

As they often did, Mara and Victor were now sitting in the palace library. Mara had spent the last few days combing through history books and books detailing the art of statecraft. The Winslow Heiress knew that her position was disadvantageous compared to that of her adversaries. However, she simply refused to give up. Not only would her dreams of an independent Bakaria be dashed, but she would have no choice but to rescind her declaration, likely before the press and the public. How would her people see her as a future head of state if her grandest plan had gone down in flames?

With Victor looking over at her, clearly concerned, Mara held her head in her hands. She could only wonder how she was going to get herself and her movement out of their current stagnant situation. She knew that she could not give up, she just had to find some way to outmaneuver her opponents.

Victor was slightly jolted when Mara exclaimed, “There has to be some way to get them to the negotiating table! If we can force them to negotiate with us, then maybe we have a chance at secession!”

Victor asked, “How though? We will eventually run out of both political momentum and available funds to pay the War Tigers we still have on retainer here. We need to act sooner rather than later if we are to pull this off.”

Mara sighed deeply. She then heard the library door opening and saw Isabella entering the room wearing her black formal uniform.

Victor somewhat sarcastically asked Isabella, “Have you come to offer a solution to our ongoing stalemate?”

Isabella replied, “Not necessarily, but I do have something… a lead possibly.”

Mara shot up from her chair and asked Isabella, “What do you mean by a lead?”

Isabella explained, as Victor looked intrigued, “I just finished up talking with a young light elf woman named Zara. She arrived in Bakaria a week ago and immediately headed for this city. She walked into a police station and said that she wanted to speak with you, Lady Mara. Of course, due to security, protocols she had to talk with various officers first. She was eventually cleared to talk to our intelligence services, which I head up. What she told me is that a close friend of hers, a human woman named Alana Kubrick, is on the run from the United Church.”

Mara incredulously asked, “Why does this one particular fugitive give us a lead regarding forcing the Domain to negotiate with us?”

Isabella continued, “It seems that Alana told Zara that she is on the run from the United Church specifically because she knows some secret of theirs. A secret big enough that the church seems desperate to apprehend her. Zara made her way here, making most of the journey by train in disguise, because she believes we are the only people who can help Alana.”

Mara’s eyes rapidly widened. She excitedly replied, “Isabella, take me to this girl. I want to hear what she has to say myself.”

Isabella added, as the trio left the library, “Zara seems to believe that Alana is making her way to Bakaria herself as we speak. A couple of factors seem to corroborate her story. My field agents just to the south of our border have reported the Domain’s authorities being on higher alert then usual over the last week. They also reported a small Terranoran special forces unit stationing itself just outside of a town nearby our southern border.”

Mara nodded, saying, “Inquisition troops, huh? If they are involved, then the United Church is trying to deal with this quickly and quietly. All the more reason for us talk with Zara and see what we can do about her friend’s situation.”

Victor chimed in, “If we end up learning something that the UCG does not want the public to know, then maybe we can force them into secession negotiations with that knowledge?”

Mara admitted, “That was exactly what I was thinking.”

The trio soon found themselves in the office of the Bakarian Intelligence Service, which was located almost adjacent to Narvograd Palace. Inside of one of the rooms, they found a young light elf woman with long blonde hair sitting in a chair next to a small table. She wore a green shirt and brown pants and boots.

When the elf girl noticed the trio entering the room, she smiled and asked, “You are Lady Mara Winslow, correct? I am so sorry to impose on your time. I assure you that I had no one else to turn to…”

Mara sat down across the table from Zara and replied, “My head of intelligence seems to believe that you have information of great importance to us. I trust her judgement. However, I want you to tell me your story from the start.”

Zara nodded, seeming quite grateful. She then began, “Thank you, My Lady. As for my story, I was living in the capital city of Agharta for the last few years. Other than occasionally dealing with people holding anti-light elven prejudice, my life was pretty simple. I worked in hotel reception part time and was learning my people’s ancient art of archery on the side, with the hope of teaching it one day. My closet friend in Agharta was a priestess named Alana Kubrick who worked in the Prime Church. We celebrated together when she told me that she had been selected to become one of the new attendants to High Priest Alexander Rosewater. However, things took a dark turn soon after that.”

Mara, who remembered that Isabella was also a consummate archer, asked Zara, “From what I understand, this ‘dark turn’ involves the United Church?”

Zara nodded and continued, “Yes, Lady Winslow. You see, one night I found a letter from Alana waiting for me in my apartment. The letter explained that Alana had been told a secret of the United Church as part of her initiation as an attendant of High Priest Rosewater. She did not divulge the nature of the aforementioned secret. However, she did tell me that she was going to sneak out of Agharta and make her way for Bakaria. She told me to take a train to get as close to the border as I could and then meet her in Narvograd. I was also to do my best to inform the Bakarian leadership that she is on her way here by whatever means she can find. She believed that the United Church’s agents would try to hunt her down and apprehend her once they realized that she was not reporting in to work and no longer living at her apartment. Alana believed that since you stated your intent to secede from the Domain of Terranor, you were the best person to entrust the church’s secret with. We both want to seek asylum in Bakaria in exchange for you learning the secret.”

Mara sighed as Isabella pointed out, “Zara has given us a general description of Alana. I would like your permission to have all of our militia stations at or near the border looking out for her. That way, they can escort her to Narvograd as soon as possible. I also fear that the United Church’s clergy still legally operating in Bakaria might have been informed about this fugitive as well. They probably did not catch on to Zara’s cooperation with Alana until it was too late, since she made it most of the way here on a public train. Her disguise also probably helped.”

Mara nodded and told Isabella, “Send the order to our militia to be on the lookout for this Alana Kubrick.” She then turned to Zara and added, “I hope that this secret of the United Church is worth all of the effort we may expend trying to track down your friend and secure her safety.”

Victor asked, “What will our first move be? We still have no idea where Alana Kubrick is? All that we know is that the Domain’s authorities are somewhat tightening their security in the vicinity just south of here. Also, the UCG’s inquisition special forces have set up a camp not far to the south of our border.”

Mara replied, “The camp was probably set up as a base of operations for the hunt for Alana Kubrick. I think we have no choice but to investigate it.”

Isabella smiled as Victor looked concerned. Victor sternly told Mara, “If you plan to investigate the camp, you will need to do so stealthily. Getting caught, or even getting into combat with the Domain’s forces could sink the whole independence movement, or worse, trigger a war.”

Mara simply nodded and then pointed out, “Victor, we currently have in our employ a world-class expert in stealth, and her apprentice. It seems like now is the time to see what Talia and Natalie are capable of.”

Isabella added, “The Domain might suspect that we hired the War Tigers as auxiliary forces in case of armed conflict erupting. However, as far as they know for sure, they have only moved their operations to Bakaria temporarily. They are supposed to conveniently either return to Tosada Island or move south once our secession is secure, assuming that no war breaks out. Investigating the camp should indeed prove to be a prime opportunity to test Talia and Natalie’s capabilities. I think I know just the way to transport a small team south to the camp’s vicinity quickly as well.”

Mara told Zara, “We will get to work on locating your friend Alana. We will endeavor to investigate the Inquisition’s camp tomorrow night. You will have to stay here for the time being for your own safety.” She then told Isabella, “See what you can do about getting that conveyance you mentioned earlier ready. Also, contact Captain Fujiwhara and tell her that we need to meet with her and Natalie immediately.”

As the trio left the room, Victor said, “It looks like we finally have a mission for the mercenaries we hired. Let’s hope that they are as good as their prices are high.”

Mara nodded and added, “Not just the mercenaries. Isabella, I think we will want a very small team for this mission. It will probably be just Talia, Natalie and the two of us. Sorry, Victor, but you do not have the proper training for this operation.”

Victor responded, “I don’t think you should go, Lady Mara. However, I know from experience that once you set your mind to something, stopping you is no easy task.”

Mara reminded Victor, “I was trained for reconnaissance. You know how skilled I am in that regard. I know that Isabella should be an asset as well. Once we meet up with Talia and Natalie, we will figure out a plan for the infiltration.”

Isabella said, “I will gather up all of the information we have on the Inquisition camp’s location and surroundings. We will need it for this mission.”

Mara nodded and then finished, as they began to make their way back to Narvograd Palace, “We will want to avoid killing, or grievously wounding, any Inquisition soldiers we encounter. Ideally, we will avoid detection altogether.”

Isabella seemed excited as the trio returned to Narvograd Palace. Mara was more determined than anything. She wanted to learn what manner of secret the United Church of God was keeping. Why had it convinced a formerly loyal priestess to go rogue? Most importantly, was the secret a big enough deal that Mara could use the threat of going public with it to bring the Domain of Terranor to the negotiating table and win her people’s independence?


	9. Preparing for the Infiltration

In the basement of Narvograd Palace sat the old war room. This reinforced part of the building had not been used actively for decades. In fact, the last time the war room was frequently used had been when a young Bakaria had needed to fend off incursions from orc tribes living in mountains to the south of the capital on Bakaria’s present day southern border. Thankfully, the raiders had not possessed the strategic sense to try and cut off the fledgling province from the rest of Terranor and starve it out of existence. Mara Winslow had received her father’s permission to hold a briefing in the room. The war room was thankfully still well maintained by the palace’s servants. It’s brass-trimmed hard wood décor was still as shiny as ever. The table in the center of the room, which Mara was now standing over along with Isabella, Talia and Natalie, was now covered by a map of the region just south of Bakaria.

Mara pointed to the area depicted on the map and explained, “So far, the other Northern Provinces seem to be buying their time regarding whether they will join us in attempting to secede from the Domain. Even with that said, if this Inquisition camp was in the territory of a province historically tied with Bakaria, that would make things easier. The camp we need to investigate is located in Galatia. Galatia is directly to the south of Bakaria across the mountains. Their government has publically said that they do not support our independence movement. They claim to oppose our secession because they want to keep trade going without the possibility of restrictions being levied. They also said that they do not want the Domain to lose access to Narvograd’s port. The reason that I mention all of this is to make it clear that we won’t have any support from the locals.”

Isabella pointed to a circled spot on the map and said, “My field agents have pinpointed the shallow canyon that the camp is located in. The report I was given also said that they only have roughly fifteen soldiers in and around the camp at any given time. The Inquisition’s forces are often skilled infiltrators themselves. However, they won’t be expecting a coordinated attempt to sneak into their camp in their own territory. Also, it sounded like most of the people at the camp are merely soldiers assigned to the Inquisition, rather than spies or magic wielders.”

Talia asked, “What is the goal of this mission, Lady Mara? I have probably snuck into places far more competently guarded than this that were expecting the possibility of infiltration. Also, I hope that you have a plan to sneak us into northern Galatia by tomorrow evening. You told us that you wanted to infiltrate the camp that night.”

Mara elaborated, “We are going in to eavesdrop, gather information and possibly steal documents and maps. Our goal is to learn what these people know about this rogue priestess Alana Kubrick and where she might be. They set up this camp close to our southern border because they were probably hoping to catch her before she could reach Bakaria and obtain asylum. One condition is that we need to do whatever we can to avoid killing any of the Inquisition personnel. We will need to bring nonlethal weapons. Firearms will be useless to us, since they make far too much light and sound when they fire. Also, they tend to cause grievous wounds on impact. We don’t know how many chaplains this group has with them, if any. Therefore, we don’t know how easily they can heal their people. As for our means of transport, Isabella said that she could handle that.”

Natalie joked, “This will be quite different from most of your assignments, won’t it Captain?”

Talia folded her arms and replied to Natalie, “You know as well as anyone that I am good for things other than killing people.” She then asked, “Isabella, what it your plan for getting us to Galatia. I know that Bakaria is only so large and that it would only take us a few days to reach the destination on foot. Still, we will only have just over a day if we want to reach the camp tomorrow evening.”

Isabella, explained, “A couple of years ago, I had the Bakarian Intelligence Services acquire an old antique made by light elf alchemists and builders decades ago. It’s what you might call a horseless carriage, powered by arcane energy. I have had it fitted out for operations like the one we are about to embark on. It has no attached weapons, but it makes little noise, needs only one person to pilot it and can fit at least four people plus supplies.”

Natalie asked, “I assume that your arcanist friend Victor will not be coming with us?”

Mara nodded and explained, “As much as he is an asset in a straight up fight thanks to his battlefield magic, he is not that well trained at stealth.”

Talia said, “I don’t know what sort of gear your intelligence services keep for this sort of work. However, I think I know just what we will need to bring. Natalie… go inform Oliver that he is in command of the company while we are away. Also, gather whatever equipment you think we will need for an infiltration where we will need to avoid lethal combat. Also, bring my Tiger Claws over. You know I never leave for a mission without them. Have some of our troops help you carry it all over here. I trust your judgement in this matter.”

Natalie saluted her Captain and then headed for the door. Talia then continued, “I would suggest that the four of us split into two teams. We can cover more ground that way. Also, each person will have someone to watch their back. It will make it harder for the Domain’s soldiers to catch us off guard.”

Mara nodded approvingly and said, “I will go with you, Captain Fujiwhara. I want to observe your talents for myself, seeing as though I am your current client. Isabella and Natalie will make up the other team.”

Talia nodded and then pointed out, “Looking at this canyon, I think that one team should head right for the camp, taking cover when and where possible. The other team should circle around. We will effectively flank them. We will want to park Isabella’s carriage a decent distance from the canyon, probably somewhere hidden. We should also assign a maximum amount of time we spend scoping out the camp. That way, both teams will hopefully return to the carriage at roughly the same time.”

Mara and Isabella both nodded in agreement with Talia. Mara said, “We should leave in the carriage at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. Assuming that it can move at a speed faster than a horse-drawn carriage, we should be able to reach our destination by the late evening. Ideally, we will avoid detection on the way once we leave Bakaria. We probably want to scout out the camp then, while there is still some light, but we will have some cover from the darkness.”

Talia and Isabella both agreed with Mara. They then headed upstairs to the palace armory. They told the palace guards to have Natalie meet them there once she returned from the War Tigers’ camp just to the south of Narvograd.

In a few hours, Natalie and four War Tiger soldiers clad in black light armor arrived with a number of cases and bags. After the four mercenaries had left, the cases and bags were opened. Other than Talia’s Tiger claws and a pair of short swords owned by Natalie, there were a number of saps, club-like weapons, designed to deliver non-lethal blows. More intriguing were a pair of wood and metal longbows with quivers of steel arrows. There were also a pair of small metal crossbows, each the size of a large revolver, and one larger crossbow. There was a case of bolts for each crossbow as well. Finally, there were four suits of jet black leather armor. Each of them was designed to be worn by a woman. The armor featured light shoulder pads and a neck guard, as well as gloves, boots and a waist belt for carrying weapons. Two of the suits were clearly made for taller women. The other two were designed for wearers of shorter stature. Each set of armor came with a small black eye mask.

Talia explained, “The saps will allow us to knock out any guards we can approach from behind with one well-placed blow. The bows are for Isabella and I. The small crossbows are Natalie’s. Lady Mara, you can have the larger crossbow. The arrows and bolts they fire can deliver a poison that will knock someone out without unduly injuring them. Once out, it will take a few hours, or powerful healing magic, to wake them up. As for the black leather, these suits of stealth armor have been enchanted to increases their resistance to blows and even small arms fire. However, they still lack the durability of modern medium and heavy armor. The armor is very easy to move in and makes little noise. However, do not except it to be that protective in a prolonged fight.”

Isabella smiled at Talia and said, “I see what you meant when you described your infiltration expertise. You certainly came prepared for this sort of job. Now, I have a couple of weapons of my own I need to grab in case things do get ugly.”

Mara sternly told Isabella, “As much as I know you want to fight the servants of the United Church, remember the mission. Do not start a real fight unless you have no other choice.”

Isabella briefly clenched a fist and took a deep breath. She then nodded and replied, “Yes, My Lady. I will honor your order as always.” Isabella left the room to head upstairs.

Talia asked Mara, “I assume you know that she is the daughter of a vampire and a human woman?”

Mara nodded, she had come to respect Talia’s intelligence. The War Tiger Captain was clearly quite hard to fool. Mara replied to Talia, “You are very observant. You see, her very existence as a half-undead is a crime to the UCG. My family has been sheltering her in exchange for her running our intelligence services for years. We have broken the Domain’s laws behind their back already. Once we secede, her very existence will no longer be a crime in Bakaria. That is why she was always such a strong supporter of my plans to secure Bakarian independence.”

Talia then admitted, “It was not so much my powers of observation, to be honest. In reality, I am far better at avoiding detection than detecting, if you know what I mean. Isabella told me and Nat the truth a couple of weeks ago.”

Mara nodded. She did her best to conceal her surprise regarding Talia’s revelation. She then looked over one of the smaller suits of stealth armor. Mara looked up, while hefting the crossbow she had been lent and said, “We will need to rest soon and then be up early tomorrow morning like I said. With any luck, we will get a better idea of Alana Kubrick’s whereabouts from this mission. Then, we will have to see if we can beat the UCG’s agents to her.”

Talia and Natalie both nodded, they seemed determined to impress their client on their first mission with her.

Isabella soon returned with a pair of surprisingly big swords at her belt. Each blade was the size of General Coril’s bastard sword. Mara and Isabella both tried on their suits of stealth armor to make sure that they fit. Then, everyone involved with the upcoming mission headed off to get some rest. They knew that they would need to be up early the next morning.


	10. Infiltrating the Camp

The next morning, Mara woke up much earlier than usual. She headed downstairs to the palace armory in casual clothes. Once there, she donned her suit of stealth armor and got her sap, rapier, crossbow and other gear ready. Once Talia, Natalie and Isabella were all ready to move out, they headed over to the Intelligence Services Headquarters. After informing Zara and some of Isabella’s subordinates that they were heading out, they walked over to the room where the horseless carriage was kept. The black-painted, four-wheeled vehicle had been reinforced in places and had one external seat for a driver on the front. It also had a cabin large enough to comfortably seat four. Victor arrived briefly to see the expedition off and wish them the best of luck. Mara told him that they would hopefully be back in Narvograd within the next couple of days.

The horseless carriage departed from Narvograd early in the morning with Isabella at the controls. The vehicle began to traverse the well-traveled road south towards Bakaria’s southern border. Isabella had prepared some official papers of passage for the expedition team just in case they were stopped within Bakaria. However, once they exited the province, they would need to do their best to avoid detection.

The carriage arrived at Bakaria’s southern border in the midafternoon. They had only stopped a couple of times on the way. Bakaria was protected from any possible incursion from the south by a number of hills and mountains. However, there were places were the land was flat enough to make passage into the country easy. Those passes were the places that Mara knew would have to be most heavily defended in the event of war with the Domain’s armies.

The carriage briefly stopped at a Bakarian border checkpoint. The checkpoint’s crew were under orders to operate as normal to avoid intensifying the conflict with the Domain. After the brief stop, the carriage left the main road and headed southwest into Galatia.

Taking care to avoid any towns or farms they saw in the distance, the expedition followed the map towards the shallow canyon where the Inquisition camp was situated. By the time they closed in on their destination, it was early evening. The sun was setting and darkness was beginning to fall. Isabella parked the horseless carriage in a small forest not far from the shallow canyon. Fortunately, the area had scattered vegetation such as bushes, tress and underbrush to provide cover on the way to the canyon.

The four women disembarked from the carriage and got all of their gear ready. Isabella pointed out, “There is a town called Garblest only about a half-hour walk from the camp. It is possible some of the Inquisition Agents are staying there, possibly hunting for information about the rogue priestess. We should keep our distance from the town’s walls.”

Mara nodded, saying, “I can make out the town’s lights faintly from here.”

Talia ordered, “Natalie, take Isabella and sneak around the canyon. You two will attempt to sneak in from the other side, closer to Garblest. Lady Mara, you said you would accompany me. We will take a direct route to the camp. We should try to meet up back here in no more than two hours.”

Natalie saluted Talia and then told Isabella to follow her. All four women donned the small masks that had come with their stealth armor. The two teams then split up and began to creep through the forest.

Mara was following Talia through the forest when something occurred to her. As they neared the edge of the trees, Mara quietly asked Talia, “Captain Fujiwhara, when I first met you and Natalie, you said that you could not help but be sympathetic to independence causes. I can’t help but wonder why that is?”

Talia looked back over at Mara. She then looked ahead and continued her advance. She explained, “I know that as a mercenary, I am supposed to just do whatever my clients want and get paid for my services. However, in some ways I am still just doing what I raised to do, even if I now get to choose who I work for.”

Mara asked, “Raised to do?” She then thought “I guess that I was raised with the intention of one day leading my country…”

Talia answered, “I was born into the Fujiwhara family, one of the most powerful families in the Fadalian Yakuza. I was trained from around age thirteen to be an assassin for the Yakuza. I spent years working for my family, carrying out contracts. Normally, I was sent in to eliminate some local small-time crook, or gang, that interfered with the syndicate’s business. My parents gave me a privileged upbringing, but they raised me to be a lethal weapon. It was when I turned twenty-two that I finally decided I was tired of killing for someone else’s gain, even that of my own family. It took some bribery of key Yakuza members and a bit of a confrontation with my parents, but I separated myself from my family’s control. I then went into business for myself. I built my own mercenary organization. We fought the rogue arcanists who tormented Natalie, the invading Eulidians and other malefactors. I know that I am still a killer, maybe I will always be one. However, at least now I can choose who I fight and who I fight for.”

Mara nodded and replied, “I see what you meant now. For you, independence meant leaving your family and going into business for yourself. For me, it means removing my country from foreign control.”

Talia nodded as the pair carefully left the forest. Mara and Talia soon made their way closer to the edge of the shallow canyon where the Inquisition camp was supposed to be situated. When the two of them reached a large series of bushes, Talia stopped Mara from advancing any father forward.

Mara peered forward and then saw a single woman not far from them standing nearby the edge of the canyon. She was wearing Terranoran light armor. However, this armor’s usual light blue coloration had been with replaced with jet black. At the lookout’s back was a scoped sniper rifle. At her belt was a short sword. The Inquisition sniper did not seem to have seen the two infiltrators. However, she was facing roughly in their direction and surveying the area.

Talia seemed to think for a moment. She whispered to Mara, “I think that it’s time for a live demonstration of, the poison arrows we brought.”

Mara nodded and told Talia, “I’ll get my crossbow ready, just in case. Make sure that she does not get the chance to fire her rifle even once.”

Talia nodded. She then drew her bow and knocked an arrow. She took a brief look around to confirm there were no more guards nearby.

Mara was impressed when Talia sprung up in the blink of an eye, sighted her bow and fired an arrow into the shoulder of the surprised sniper. Before the Inquisition guard could even yelp, she slumped to the ground and fell unconscious.

Mara and Talia resumed their advance while crouching low to the ground. When they reached the downed sniper, Talia explained, “That poison is expensive, but it does the job well. Not that I would expect it to work on a dragon, or a giant, or even the tougher dwarves.”

Mara checked that the woman was still breathing and replied, “You are right about that. She is out cold, but still alive.”

Talia simply smiled and nodded. She then made her way to the edge of the canyon and got down onto her stomach. Mara did the same thing.

Mara got her binoculars out and then gave them to Talia. Talia’s feloid eyes allowed her to see in low-light conditions more easily than a human. This was an advantage Isabella’s vampire heritage granted her as well. Mara had participated in enough night operations during the recent war that she had trained her eyes well. However, Talia still had a natural advantage on top of her extensive infiltration experience.

Talia scanned the area using the binoculars. She told Mara, “The camp has six large tents. There is a fire lit at the center. There are also some stacks of supply crates at the edges of the camp. I see two Inquisition soldiers facing away from heading towards the camp not far away. I suggest that we knock them out and then see if we can get closer.”

Mara nodded and added, “I think that sounds like a plan. I think I see a short stack of crates that we should be able to use for cover not far past the guards. We can hopefully eavesdrop on anyone we can find once we get down there.”

Talia and Mara each drew a sap and then slowly advanced down into the canyon, following the two guards. It was not long until they were close to the two men. The pair seemed so intent on chatting with each other that they did not notice Mara and Talia. When they were almost right behind the pair of soldiers, Mara and Talia sprinted forward toward their targets.

Before the two guards could even turn around, Mara raised her sap and clubbed one guard on the back, hard. Talia did the same to the other guard. Both men fell to the ground unconscious.

Talia then motioned for Mara to follow her. The duo rapidly, but carefully, made their way towards the crates where they had planned to hide. Thankfully, nobody in the camp had sounded the alarm. It seemed like both teams had remained undetected.

When Talia and Mara took cover behind the crates, they overheard a pair of voices, one male and one female, coming towards them from the right. They soon saw two Inquisition soldiers, one light elf man and one human woman walking over to the campfire.

The elf man told his companion, “I still find it hard to believe, but I guess that its good news for us.”

As the duo sat down by the campfire the human woman replied, “I am telling you that the Sergeant himself confirmed it. The locals in Garblest discovered that the fugitive was sneaking through their town, possibly having stopped to steal some supplies. They managed to find her as she was just about to leave town. As she fled, the Sergeant gave chase and was able to immobilize her with a spell. She was then chained and gagged and brought back to his command tent. We just sent a runner back to Garblest to put in a long-distance phone call to HQ in Agharta. Command will probably warp in a high-ranking arcanist and some elite troops in the morning. They will get the prisoner warped back to Agharta and the operation will have been a success.”

The elven man reminded his comrade, “It’s just a good thing they gagged the fugitive. Command told us to not trust anything she says and take it all as malicious lies. Still, I wonder what this woman had to have done to make the higher ups devote so much of our resources to appending her? They said that she was once a priestess and one in good standing in the Prime Church at that.”

The female soldier shrugged her shoulders as she got out some rations and said, “It is not our job to ask that question. We did what we were supposed to do. We will probably be making our way home tomorrow anyway.”

Mara cursed under her breath. She told Talia, “I think that the largest tent is probably the command tent. I see some light coming from it. This has just changed from an investigation to a rescue mission. We need to free Kubrick and then make a beeline back to the carriage. Can you keep watch while I go in to get her freed?”

Talia quietly replied, “We will need to knock out those two. Then, I think I know how I can safely keep watch without being detected. You will possibly need to take out that Sergeant in the tent before you can free their prisoner.”

Mara took aim at the elf man with her crossbow over the top of a crate. Talia drew her bow and took aim at the human woman. The two of them fired in sync. Their projectiles struck the two targets in each of their chests. The knock-out poison took its effect quickly.

Almost as soon as the two soldiers fell unconscious, Talia quietly snapped her fingers and magically vanished from Mara’s sight.

Realizing that that was her cue to take action, Mara looked around to confirm that no other guards were present. She then stealthily advanced forward to the largest tent. She stealthily peeked inside and saw a single man wearing an unarmored Inquisition uniform. He had gray skin, red eyes and long pointed ears. He was clearly a deep elf. The deep elf was looking over at a human woman with light skin and long, flowing, black hair. She was actually reasonably muscular and giving her captor a defiant look. The woman was gagged with a thick white cloth. Her hands were most likely cuffed behind her back and her legs were shackled and chained to a heavy metal ball behind her. She was wearing a purple shirt and brown pants. Her clothes looked like they had not been changed in a while.

Mara heard the deep elf sergeant saying, “My runner should be back within the hour, Miss Kubrick. All of the angry looks in the world will not save a traitor like you. The High Council will probably deal with you personally. I don’t know what you did to earn their enmity, but you will pay dearly for it.”

Alana angrily tried to say something through her gag. However, the deep elf sergeant simply laughed at her.

Mara carefully entered the tent and drew her sap. She intended to knock out the deep elf and see if she could find the keys to Alana’s chains somewhere in the tent.

The deep elf sergeant then said, “I think I will get some food. Corporal…” The deep elf turned around just in time to see Mara closing in on him. He then staggered back and clapped his hands loudly. A loud clanging noise shot out from the place where the sergeant’s hands had met. He had used a spell to sound an alarm.

Mara leapt forward with her sap. However, her enemy sidestepped her attack. As lighting erupted from his hands, Mara ducked, evading the electric spell.

The enemy sergeant called out, “We are under attack! Repel the intruders, execute the prisoner if necessary as per our orders!”

As Mara heard the sounds of movement outside the tent, she threw her sap at her retreating foe. Her enemy dodged. However, he was distracted for just long enough for Mara to reflexively unsheathe her rapier.

Mara’s blade crackled with frost as she lunged forward. Acting on pure combat instinct, she plunged the blade into her enemy’s chest.

Mara looked down at her foe as he slipped off of her blade, blood gurgling out of his mouth. She then stammered, “Damnit! I killed one of them.”

As the sound of combat could be heard outside, Mara quickly walked up to Alana and told her, “Alana Kubrick, I am here to rescue you. Your secret had better be worth all of this trouble and that man’s life.”

Mara tore off Alana’s gag. The rogue priestess told her, “The keys should be on a ring on his belt.… You are her, aren’t you? Mara Winslow? That mask does not conceal that much of your face. I did not realize that you would come and do your own dirty work… very impressive.”

Mara grabbed the sergeant’s keys and then began to free Alana from her manacles and shackles. She then replied, “What matters to me is what you supposedly know something that the UCG does not want going public. Not what you think of me as a person.”

After Alana was freed of her restraints she rubbed her wrists and told Mara, “I will tell you all that I know once we are in your country. The truth I know shakes the very foundation of my former employers’ power to the ground.”

Mara smiled and told Alana, “Let’s get out of here then!”

Mara turned to the tent flap and saw an Inquisition soldier armed with a combat shotgun bursting in. However, a pair of swords emerged from the darkness. One stabbed the man in the back and the other lopped off his head. Isabella Vladis stood behind the collapsing corpse grinning. She then saw Mara and innocently told her, “Talia declared ‘Weapons Free.’”

Mara replied, “I killed one of the bastards too. We need to get Alana out of here and back home!”

Isabella nodded and the three of them left the tent. They soon saw that only three Inquisition soldiers were still standing. Two of them were retreating towards Garblest. The third, a dwarf man, was covering the others with his heavy metal shield. He had a large, one-handed, axe drawn as well.

Mara saw Natalie not far in the distance dual wielding her crossbows. She put a poisoned bolt into the back of each of the fleeing enemies. The dwarf man saw Alana and charged her. However, Talia, who was visible again, ran around behind him and plunged her tiger claws into his back, killing him.

The team soon regrouped, having knocked out or killed every enemy in the camp. Talia said, “It seems that our plan did not go perfectly. Still, we have retrieved our objective. I strongly suggest that we make haste back to Bakaria before the local authorities realize what has happened here.”

Mara replied, “Agreed. That damn sergeant saw me and sounded the alarm. I killed him running on instincts I developed during the last war. Regardless, the United Church will have trouble retaliating now that we are about to learn their secret. Right, Miss Kubrick?”

Alana nodded and then asked, as the five of them all made their way towards the carriage, “Do any of you know what became of my friend Zara from Agharta?”

Natalie replied, “I believe that she should be safely in Bakaria. She was the one who told us about you.”

Alana looked deeply relieved, as they hiked up and out of the canyon, she finished, “I will divulge all that I know as soon as I am reunited with her. Your team seems to have made short work of those soldiers. You all may very well have saved my life and I owe you for that.”

The group made it to the carriage without incident. As they began their drive back to the Bakarian border, where they could hopefully rest before returning to Narvograd, Mara could only think about how lucky they had gotten. They had been able to rescue Alana Kubrick the night before she would have been transferred out of their reach. Now, the next step would be to learn the secret the UCG had been so desperate to keep hidden and go from there.


	11. The Church’s Secret

It was the evening after the rescue of Alana Kubrick from Inquisition custody. The team that had ended up retrieving the captured former priestess had driven their horseless carriage back to the Bakarian border and rested the night at the checkpoint there. After that, they had driven back to Narvograd and returned to the headquarters of the Bakarian Intelligence Services. There, Alana Kubrick had been reunited with her light elven friend Zara. Mara and Isabella had been reunited with Victor as well. Victor had been surprised, and impressed, by the unexpected turn the operation had taken. However, he was just happy that everyone had made it back safely.

After Talia and Natalie had gone off to meet with Oliver at their camp, Mara had told Victor that he was right about Talia’s family’s criminal activity. However, she also mentioned that she trusted and respected Talia and that the leader of the War Tigers had stopped working as a Yakuza assassin years ago. Victor seemed somewhat reassured. He mentioned that he and Talia had something in common, they did not get along with their families.

Now, Mara, Victor, Isabella, Zara and Alana were in the war room of Narvograd Palace. Alana had had a chance to change into cleaner clothes. Mara and Isabella had changed out of their stealth armor and into their regular clothes. Victor was dressed casually, as he often was.

Mara, who was standing up, looked across the table at the seated Zara and Alana. Alana had insisted that Zara be present when she told the Bakarians her story. Mara had decided to oblige her that request. She simply wanted to learn the nature of the secret Alana had learned. The Winslow heiress told Alana, “I am willing to give you and your friend Zara asylum here. However, in exchange, you must truthfully tell us the secret of the United Church of God that you somehow learned. Clearly they really want to keep it under wraps. I would like you to begin your story now.”

Alana asked Mara, “A deal is a deal, Lady Winslow. However, I must ask what you intend to do with the secret once you know it? I would prefer that all of Terranor, if not Austean, learn what I have learned. I want to see the church have to own up to the truth they have suppressed.”

Mara replied, “If you must know, I intend to use the secret to blackmail the church, which controls the Domain of Terranor, into allowing Bakaria her independence. If they refuse to open up secession negotiations with us, then we will use our agents and the press to reveal the secret to the public. Sadly, I currently see no other way to force the Domain’s leadership to the negotiating table.”

Alana looked frustrated. She looked over at Zara and then at her hosts. She took a deep breath and said, “I sort of expected as much. I had Zara flee here, and was on the way here myself, because I knew you were the only ones on this continent I could trust. Well, here is my story.… Not long ago, I was indeed a committed and loyal priestess working at the Prime Church. I had actually been a soldier in the army before I applied to join the priesthood. I had decided that a religious vocation would be more generally helpful to others then being a soldier. I was considered a hard worker by my superiors at the Prime Church, despite never having been in a position to give a sermon. Less than a month ago, I was informed that I had been selected to be offered the opportunity to become an attendant to High Priest Rosewater. I was elated at first and accepted the offer. After I accepted, I went through what I was told was told was the usual procedure. I swore some oaths and gave some recitations from the _Word and the Way_, the United Church’s holy text. At last, the final day of my initiation dawned on me. On that final day, I met with High Priest Rosewater. For all that I knew, this was a mere formality that would ‘rubber stamp’ my new status as one of his attendants. However, he told me something that I did not expect.”

Alana paused for a moment. She took a deep breath. Zara was looking intently at her friend. Mara folded her arms, deciding to be patient and wait. It was obvious that Alana was about to disclose the United Church’s secret.

Alana finally continued, “High Priest Rosewater told me that all clergy members who are granted attendant status to a High Priest or Priestess are made privy to a piece of information that the United Church does not want the public to know. I was unsure what he meant at first. I did not even realize that such information existed. I asked him what he was talking about. It was then that he told me that the United Church’s founders, led by High Priestess Kylana, had decided to tell the Terranoran people a lie. They told this grand lie for the supposed sake of helping to trigger a broad public uprising against the Order of Light. That lie is that the United Church’s deity created Austean, our world. Apparently, the United Church does not know who or what really created this world. However, they claimed that it was their god in the hopes of turning the people against the Order of Light.”

Isabella asked, as Mara, Victor and Zara were all silent, “What exactly is their god then?”

Alana replied, “All that I was told was that they are an amalgamation of thousands of mortal souls from hundreds of inhabited worlds. Those souls having coalesced into a form powerful enough to be considered a god. When Rosewater told me the truth, he could probably tell that I was uneasy. However, I put on a good face. I told him that I would trust the church’s judgement and learn more through serving under him. After I was dismissed, I rushed home, packed whatever I could, left a note for Zara and left the capital. I was so blindly angered by the whole thing. I felt so betrayed that the religion I had loyally followed for years was led by liars. I knew that I could not serve them anymore. The purple flames disappeared from my eyes after I fled Agharta. I could feel my powers leaving me. However, I just kept running, making my way north as best I could and hoping that I would meet up with Zara in Bakaria. Your declaration of intent to secede, which I thought was foolish at first, gave me hope that I would be safe here. Of course, I was captured as I tried to leave Garblest. Your timely intervention saved me from being returned to Agharta and possibly being put to death by the High Council.”

As Mara was deep in thought, Victor wondered aloud, “I wonder how they kept such a secret under wraps for this long? If people were learning it, deciding not to keep it, being declared traitors and then being ‘disappeared’ by the Inquisition for decades, then wouldn’t the general populace catch on at some point? … Maybe the church has contracted the services of one or more powerful arcanists who can selectively erase the memories of anyone who learns their secret who they decide cannot be trusted to keep it?”

Isabella added, “I wonder if blind loyalty and even possibly fear of the United Church’s power also work to keep most people who learn the secret in line. Still, it is impressive that the UCG has been able to keep the truth about their bullshit religion hidden for so long. Who knows how many people actually know the truth?”

Mara smiled and finally spoke, “The church knows that they cannot afford to let the truth make its way to the public. That was why they spent so much effort to hunt Alana down once they realized what she was trying to do. Now, we have a ‘gun’ to hold to the bastards’ heads. Unless the UCG allows Bakaria and any of the other Northern Provinces to leave the Domain, we will reveal the truth to the public! We’ve got them now!”

As Mara excitedly clenched her fists, Alana told her, “In the end, I am in your hands, Lady Winslow. The decision is ultimately yours. However, I still hope that the truth will be revealed to all someday. The UCG deserves to reap what they have sown. They have based their faith on a lie and they should pay the price for that.”

Isabella replied to Alana, “I have to agree with you. The UCG says that they support the right of all people to live their best lives. However, they would see me executed because my father was an undead creature. Something I had no control over. They see creatures despised by the Order of Light including deep elves, some dragons, some giants, orcs, kobolds and others as worthy of life, but not those like me. In the end, Lady Mara is the one in command here. She has promised me that I will be able to live openly once Bakaria has won her independence. That is enough for me, as much as I would love to see the UCG burned to the ground.”

Mara turned to Isabella and told her, “I want envelopes containing letters with the church’s secret written on them sent to all of our field agents! We need to be in the best position possible in order to force the UCG to the negotiating table. If the Domain does not allow for our secession, then we will order our agents to open their envelopes and find a way to get the information contained in them to as many people as possible. Of course, I will also prepare a statement for the press exposing the United Church as a fraud.”

Victor simply pointed out, “We will probably need to send the High Council a blackmail letter as soon as possible. We will want them to know what we know and make our demands directly to them.”

Mara nodded in agreement and said, “Victor, I trust you to draft the letter. Which I will review soon after it is finished. I will be focusing on readying my statement to the press. With any luck, I will never have to give that speech. Isabella, please figure out accommodations in this building for Alana and Zara. They are to stay here until our secession is secure. For their own protection, of course. …Now that I think about it, I should probably inform my parents of this development. I don’t want to keep this secret from them. They should know the truth that we are using to bring our opponents to the negotiating table.”

Isabella and Victor both saluted Mara. Then, Victor, mentioned, “I think that after I get a draft letter ready, I will see if I can pay Talia Fujiwhara a visit. After what Lady Mara has told me, I think I would not mind getting a drink with her.”

Mara was somewhat surprised by what Victor had just suggested. However, she simply smiled at him. She was glad that he was getting over his earlier concerns regarding Talia. Isabella escorted Alana and Zara out of the war room. Zara still seemed somewhat in shock from all that had happened. However, she was still obviously relieved that Alana was safe.

Mara and Victor both left the room afterwards. Mara was off to meet with her parents and Victor was going to begin working on the blackmail letter. As Mara made her way to her parent’s personal chambers, she could think that independence was within reach. She finally had the dirt on the United Church she needed to make them do what she wanted. She did admit to herself that she wished that the Domain’s representatives had just come to negotiate in the first place. The idea of blackmail was still one she found distasteful. However, she had a goal to reach and she was not going to stop now. Mara’s belief in the righteousness of her cause had only increased with the knowledge that the United Church had been lying about one of their faith’s foundational beliefs. Why wouldn’t a future head of state like herself want to secede from a society run by such a dishonest religion?


	12. The Negotiations

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It had been a week since Alana Kubrick had arrived in Bakaria. In the Prime Church of Agharta, the United Church of God’s five High Council members were all present in their chamber. Sapphire C. Coril sat next to Kylana, who was holding a letter that had apparently arrived from Narvograd the previous day. Sapphire and the three male members of the High Council were all waiting for Kylana to begin reading the letter aloud. The ancient High Priestess’s eyes were smoking with purple energy. It was obvious to Sapphire that Kylana was just barely containing her rage.

Finally, Kylana seemed to relax herself slightly. She looked down at the letter, clearly still disgusted. Then, she read, “Members of the High Council of the United Church. We know the secret that you have suppressed for decades. We know that your god did not really create Austean. We know how you built your faith on a lie. Regardless of whether or not the situation at the time demanded such measures, we now know the truth that you concealed at your founding. As for our demands, we expect you to agree to send a delegation to Narvograd to begin negotiating the terms of our secession from your Domain. Also, if other provinces of the Domain of Terranor want to follow us in seceding, you will not attempt to stop them. Failure to comply with our demands will result in your secret being revealed to the public. Trust us, we have ways of getting the information out. We expect a reply within one week of your receiving our letter. Signed: The Bakarian Independence Movement.”

Ernesto Berkman said, once Kylana had finished, “I guess that we know who the culprits of the raid on our Inquisition’s camp are now. It was the Bakarians!”

Durkal added, “That was obvious to me. Those snakes in the grass somehow became aware that we were hunting the rogue priestess down and decided to rescue her. However, that still leaves the questions of how they knew where the camp was and that she had been captured soon before they attacked.”

Alexander sighed and pointed out, “I still feel immense guilt that I offered that woman a position as one of my attendants. Normally, when someone has learned the truth about our religion’s founding and not wanted to keep the secret, we have been able to wipe their memories before they could cause any problems.”

Sapphire finally spoke up, saying, “I have a few thought on this matter. First of all, Sasha says you are welcome for all of those memory wipes. It took a lot of convincing on my part to get her to fill that role for us. Secondly, do not feel too bad, High Priest Rosewater. This Alana Kubrick was a fringe case that we had trouble predicting. More importantly, after thinking it over, I believe that Bakaria has likely established an intelligence agency of their own that operates outside of their provincial borders. That would explain a lot of their observed and proclaimed capabilities. I still think that the Bakarians were not trying to start a war when they raided our camp. Many of the soldiers there were knocked out nonlethally. They even were reported to have used rare and expensive knock out poison on their projectiles to avoid killing some of our soldiers. However, it seems like their infiltration turned into a brutal melee at some point, explaining why many of our troops in the camp ended up dead.”

Kylana looked over at her fellow High Council members and asked, anger still present in her voice, “Any suggestions on what to do about this blackmail attempt? They say that they will reveal our secret to the public if we do not allow them to secede. Can we even trust Mara Winslow to keep the secret once she has what she wants?”

Durkal slammed his fist on the table and declared, “These Bakarians have committed treason as far as I am concerned! That camp raid occurred in Galatia, outside of Bakaria’s borders. Even if they had attacked the Inquisition within their own province, they have not officially seceded. They have engaged in an act of war against us. We need to retaliate.”

Alexander added, “What we need to do is kill Alana Kubrick. I would do it myself if it was feasible. She needs to pay for her treachery. The problem is that she has already told the Bakarian leadership our secret.”

Sapphire said, “As the one here with the most extensive military background. I think I know what we have to do. We will humor them on the surface by sending a delegation to Narvograd. There, we will make the true nature of the situation very clear. They won’t last long against our army and navy if war is declared. Even if they have hired mercenaries to bolster their ranks, it will not be enough. Even the combined strength of all the Northern Provinces would lose a war fought against the rest of the continent. If they attempt to expose us, then we will declare that Bakaria and any Northern Provinces who side with her are in revolt and send the army north to crush the uprising. Our navy will attack Narvograd from the sea and attempt to rapidly end the war. Hopefully, they will see reason. If they do not expose us, we won’t invade and end the reign of the House of Winslow by force.”

Kylana nodded and told Sapphire, “I like what you are saying. I also like what Alexander is saying. I want you to go personally and make our point to these insurrectionists. However, I want to send Inquisition operatives disguised as regular army soldiers as your retinue. If the Bakarian leadership does not back down, then the Inquisition troops will silence Alana Kubrick for good. Fortunately, we believe that she is being kept somewhere near Narvograd Palace. I have been told by our clergy in Narvograd that there is a small, unmarked, government owned, building just off of the palace grounds that could be a good location to hide the fugitive.”

Sapphire mused, “That could even be where their intelligence agency has been operating out of?” She then saluted Kylana out of habit and added, “Regardless, I will collect Sasha in case I need a quick warp out. We will then make preparations to assemble a team for this mission. I take it that you will have someone write a response letter telling them that we are sending a delegation as soon as we can.”

Ernesto replied, “I can take care of that.”

Kylana finished, “Excellent. Godspeed, Sapphire. We will rely on you to deliver our message and, if necessary, execute the fugitive. With any luck, Bakaria will be brought to heel and our secret will remain unknown to the public.”

Sapphire saluted the other High Council members out of habit again and then departed the chamber. She had a job to do and the stakes were potentially quite high this time.

\---

One week after the UCG’s High Council had made their decision to send a delegation to Narvograd, Mara Winslow was sitting in the main conference room of Narvograd Palace. Next to her was Victor Nikolov. Also present were her father and two members of Bakaria’s parliament. Mara’s mother was in the palace gardens, as she often was. Across the table from her were the sisters Sapphire Coril and Sasha Cordwin. Two armed and armored guards from each side stood behind their respective delegates. The dark blue and white of the Bakarian Militia contrasting with the light blue and orange of the Domain of Terranor’s army. They had agreed that the rest of the sisters’ retinue was to wait in the front hall of Narvograd Palace and just outside in the courtyard. 

Mara was quite excited. She had finally put the Domain of Terranor in a position where they had agreed to send delegates for a meeting. However, two things still concerned her, one was the use of blackmail to bring things to this moment. The second was that the response letter had made no mention of a secession agreement, or even of a negotiation. Regardless, Mara now knew the United Church’s secret. Her parents, Victor and Isabella also knew the truth now. The Domain would have to give her what she wanted. At least Mara was hoping that they would realize that they could not afford to have their secret leak out to the general public.

As Mara was thinking about what her opponent and former general’s plan was going to be, Sapphire began, “Well, Winslow, you got what you wanted. We are here. However, there is something that you have not accounted for. Something that I have been sent here to remind you of.”

Mara’s father and her other accompanying delegates looked to her. She could not help but feel nervous. What was the High Priestess talking about? Mara decided to ask Sapphire, “What did I fail to account for? I know something that you do not want released to the public. Something that was detailed in the letter that we sent you. We have something to hold over you. What do you have to hold over us?”

Sapphire replied, “As a longtime professional soldier, I know that your camp raid was an act of war, regardless of the severity of the casualties incurred. I am here to make a counter-offer to your blackmail attempt. You may know our secret. However, we know what you had to do in order to become privy to it. For now, Bakaria is still officially a province of the Domain of Terranor. The other Northern Provinces are under our authority as well. You have no legal right to begin secession proceedings. Also, your agents committed an act of High Treason when you rescued the rogue former priestess Alana Kubrick. My counter-offer is that if you are willing to drop your secession plans and agree to not leak our secret to the public, and ideally turn over Alana Kubrick to the proper authorities as soon as practical, then we will forgive your earlier act of High Treason. Ultimately, I know that you have become the leader of your independence movement, Mara Winslow. Therefore, the decision is yours. Do you really want to have your province invaded and likely be tried and possibly put to death for your treasonous actions? Or, do you want to end this nonsensical quest of yours and be allowed to maintain your birthright and Bakaria’s safety. Of course, you will have to disband your intelligence agency and dismiss your mercenaries as well. However, you will have averted a greater crisis that could lead to rampant destruction in Bakaria and possibly the whole northern region.”

All eyes were on Mara. The Winslow Heiress took a deep breath and then looked Sapphire in her purple eyes. Mara knew that her opponent had a point. However, she knew that she could not back down now. In the end, it seemed that someone had to stand up to the United Church’s leadership. She replied, undeterred and unbowed, “Your High Council really is a band of power hungry hypocrites. People like you really do not deserve to rule Terranor, or any society for that matter. To be honest, I used to look up to you. You were the ‘Greatest Traitor.’ The champion of justice who betrayed her own kind to do what was right. To be fair, that was over a century ago. However, you were willing to bravely lead a volunteer force to foreign lands to advance the cause of liberty just a short while ago. Despite all of that, it seems that the United Church is what is most important to you now. Alternatively, you fear them as much as everyone else who keeps their secret. We will not bow before people like you, High Priestess. Now, this is your final chance, let us begin the real negotiations… or we will reveal the truth to all who will listen.”

Sapphire sighed and then got up from her seat. Sasha followed her up. The two light elven women seemed impacted by Mara’s words. However, Sapphire warned, “Do not release the secret to the public. Trust me, I was not happy about what we did at first. However, I have made my peace with it. We will be taking our leave now. Bakaria and her neighbors are still legally provinces of the Domain of Terranor. If you reveal the secret, your rebellion will be fully acknowledged and the proper consequences will follow. I am sorry that it has come to this. I will have you know that we never had any intention of acknowledging your secession plan as legitimate, even despite what you know now.”

As the Domain’s delegation began to depart. Mara balled up her hands into fists and got up. She did not pursue her adversaries. However, she shouted after them, “You will regret this! This will not end well for you!”

Once the Domain’s delegates had left. The present Bakarians all turned to Mara. Victor asked her, “What do we do now?”

Mara replied, “We will have to follow through with our threat. We need to go see Isabella and have her order her agents to expose the UCG. I will arrange a press conference as soon as I can.”

Mara’s father went to meet with his wife, as the members of parliament went to inform their fellow legislators of what had happened. Mara and Victor were making their way to meet with Isabella in the Intelligence Services Headquarters when a junior Palace Guard ran up to them, clearly panicked. He saluted the pair and stammered, “The Intelligence Service building is under attack! The soldiers from the opposing delegation broke in!”

Mara quickly asked the young man, “What of the two main delegates?”

The palace guard replied, “Our palace guard forces surrounded them as they tried to clear an escape route for their allies. We exchanged gunfire and spells with them. Due to being badly outnumbered, and with us preparing the palace’s cannons to fire on their position, they warped away using a spell from the younger sister. To where, I do not know.”

Mara was impressed that her Palace Guards had taken on two extremely powerful spellcasters and forced them to retreat. However, she had a more urgent matter on her mind. She drew her rapier as fire flickered from Victor’s hands. She told the junior palace guard, “Sound the alarm around the city! Have the militia place all Clergy of the United Church in Narvograd under arrest by my orders! Victor, follow me! We will take the tunnel leading into the Intelligence Services Headquarters from the palace’s basement.”

Victor and Mara then took off. They knew that they needed to hurry. They wanted Alana Kubrick to live to see her wish granted. They were going to expose the UCG’s secret to the public. There would be no more negotiations now.


	13. Exposing the Church

Mara and Victor ran as fast as they could down through the short underground tunnel that connected Narvograd Palace with the Bakarian Intelligence Services’ headquarters. They were sure that the soldiers attacking the building were after Alana Kubrick. They most likely wanted to silence her as revenge for her having leaked the secret of the United Church to the Bakarians. Mara had her rapier drawn. She was as ready for a fight as she could be. The palace guards were scrambling as best as they could. The enemy infiltrators would soon be badly outnumbered. They could not be allowed to escape the area.

When Mara and Victor reached the top of the stairs, they saw a pair of what looked to be male human Terranoran soldiers running towards them. One of the foes suddenly collapsed to the ground as a gunshot rang out. He had been shot squarely in the back of the head.

As the surviving soldier turned around and raised his rifle, Victor quickly conjured a small sphere of coursing fire and launched it into the foe. The enemy was badly singed and collapsed to the ground alongside his slain comrade.

Mara soon saw that the source of the bullet that had killed the first enemy was a bulky black revolver being held by Natalie Tolston. Talia’s apprentice was casually dressed, but armed with both the revolver and a combat knife.

Natalie recognized Mara and Victor and told them, “Isabella had asked Talia and I to come over while the negotiations were going on. She did not trust the Domain’s representatives. It seems like she was right.”

Mara replied, “The negotiations were indeed short. Where is Alana?”

Natalie motioned for Mara and Victor to follow her and led the way, saying, “They took some of Isabella’s subordinates and a couple of militia guards and were doing their best to secure Alana and Zara in this building’s armory. I was sent to find you.”

Mara replied, as they made their way deeper into the building, “One of the palace guards told us what was going on. We came as fast as we could. Reinforcements should be on the way soon. The enemy’s main ‘delegates’ have retreated for now.”

Natalie led Mara and Victor past an intersection of hallways where they saw a trio of Bakarian militia troops dispatching a pair of enemies. Mara told the trio of guards to hunt down and eliminate any other enemies they could find. For now, she was focused on reaching Talia and Isabella and helping them protect Alana.

By the time that Mara, Victor and Natalie had reached the armory, the fighting was pretty much over. Talia and Isabella, with the help of the building’s personnel and militia guards, had defended the armory and slain at least eight enemies. Thankfully, Talia had been armed with her tiger claws and Isabella had had her bastard swords on her. When Mara entered the armory, she saw Zara hiding behind an overturned table and Alana brandishing a two-handed steel-tipped spear.

Isabella informed Mara, “Glad to see you, My Lady. I think that we drove the enemy off. They were clearly trying to get to Alana. Thankfully, Talia was here at my suggestion. She took out as least three of the enemy, despite wearing no armor.” 

Victor told a couple of the nearby militia guards, “Start sweeping this area and leave nothing unturned. We cannot afford to have let a single hostile get away. Understood?”

The soldiers saluted Victor and quickly left. Mara then told Alana, “This whole ‘negotiation’ was a trap by the United Church. Thankfully, you are alright. Since they failed to comply with our demands, you are also going to get your wish.”

Isabella asked Mara, “Are we going to expose the United Church?”

Mara nodded and told Isabella, “Our threats mean nothing if we cannot back them up. You are to have all of your field agents open their envelopes and spread the information contained within to as many people as possible. I already had a press conference arranged for tomorrow where I was hoping to announce our secession’s success, or at least that the negotiations had begun and were progressing. However, I will use the conference as an opportunity to expose the United Church instead.”

Alana asked Mara, “As much as I believe that the church needs to be exposed, you do know that they will throw everything they have at you if you tell the world the truth. What is your plan for fighting them and winning?”

Mara replied, “I know that they will retaliate on a grand scale if we unveil the truth to the public. Honestly, I think that our best hope will be that the truth coming out will weaken public confidence in the United Church. Hopefully, it will weaken morale enough that it hinders their ability to maintain their army. Things have gotten bad enough that we can only hope that the continent descends into chaos. If the enemy is fighting domestic threats on multiple fronts, then we will have a chance to successfully resist their inevitable invasion.”

Victor pointed out, “Lady Mara, you realize that you just referred to the UCG as ‘the enemy.’”

Mara replied, “After what just happened, I see no better term to refer to them with. They are our enemies now. I never wanted a war. I said as much time and time again. However, they have forced us to this point. We will not allow the United Church to claim authority over Bakaria ever again! If we must secede through force of arms, then so be it!”

Isabella saluted Mara and told her, “I will send out the orders immediately! We will give those lying bastards and all who stand by them what they deserve!”

Talia looked over at Natalie and said, “I guess we are going to have to earn our pay. We better get back to our camp at get everyone there ready.”

Natalie and Talia soon departed. Mara then ordered Victor to gather their best guards to protect Alana and Zara for the time being. As for the Winslow Heiress, she had to meet with her parents and her nation’s parliament. There were quite a few actions that needed to be taken.

By the end of that day, Mara had both conferred with her parents and called and presided over an emergency session of parliament. The entire membership of the Bakarian Parliament, even those who had opposed secession, were told the truth about the United Church. They were also briefed on the calamitous collapse of negotiations that had occurred mere hours before. Mara was able to convince parliament and her parents to approve a few critical measures to be implemented immediately. First, all clergy of the United Church of God residing in Bakaria were to be either detained or deported out of the country as quickly as possible. They simply could not be trusted in the current circumstances. Secondly, approval was given for an immediate buildup of the Bakarian militia and coast guard forces. Most of the nation’s industries were to be placed under partial government control in order to enable the rapid production of war material. Also, trusted messengers carrying letters with the United Church’s secret written on them were to be sent to every other Northern Province. They were to be asked to stand with Bakaria against the United Church’s armies in the hopes of securing their own future independence.

It was also made clear that Mara was to give her press conference the next day. The vicinity of Narvograd Palace was to be placed under maximum security in order to prevent any enemy agents from trying to sabotage the event. Mara made it clear to Bakaria’s parliament that she had never wanted things to come to this. However, the Domain of Terranor’s leadership had chosen war. Thankfully, parliament had seemed confident that most of the Bakarian populace would support armed secession once they learned about the church’s treachery. As for the current Lord and Lady of Bakaria, they had decided to support their daughter’s planned course of action. Her father even planned to address the press right after her. Like her, they realized that the United Church of God had proven itself profoundly unfit to rule.

That night, Mara tried to reassure herself that she was taking the best course of action. She did not want her people, or their potential allies, to suffer and die in to the war that she was about to start. However, she knew that life under the tyranny of the church just did not seem worth living. Someone had to hold them accountable for their hypocrisy and dishonesty. However, despite her best attempts to calm herself down, Mara was still worried that the war she was going to start could not be won. She did not sleep nearly as much as she wanted to that night.

Despite some degree of sleep deprivation, Mara Alastair Winslow was ready to give her remarks to the assembled members of the press and various important members of the Bakarian public. She stood exactly where she had stood to give her declaration of intent to secede earlier that year. She was also wearing the exact same formal clothes that she had worn on that fateful day. Mara looked out at the crowd of reporters, camera operators and others. This time, her parents were standing behind her. They had allowed Mara to give the opening remarks. However, her father would take over after her and do his best to answer questions from the crowd. Victor was wearing a lightly-armored militia uniform and helping to manage security. Isabella was also there, for once. She was wearing a militia uniform and pretending to be a Palace Guard Sergeant. However, her stature and unique choices of weaponry did make her stand out from most of the other soldiers.

Mara took a very deep breath and began, “Thank you all for coming. I will not waste much time with pleasantries this time. I have important news to share. Many of you may know that the Domain’s authorities recently increased security in Galatia and other regions south of Bakaria. I can tell you all now that they were doing so as part of an effort to capture a former priestess of the United Church of God. This brave woman, who is currently under my protection, learned the dire truth that the church has kept hidden ever since its foundation. Every one of us has been lied to by the High Council in Agharta and their upper-level cronies. The truth is, the United Church’s God did NOT create our world. They are not responsible for Austean’s existence.”

Many members of the crowd gasped in shock. Mara wasted no time and continued, “Their god is some kind of amalgamation of mortal souls with no unique tie to our world. Even though their god did not create Austean, the church wanted the public to think that so as to give their faith undue legitimacy. Now, the truth is out. We know that we were lied to by a power-hungry and domineering council that suppresses the right of self-determination of their ‘provinces.’ The United Church does not deserve its power, yet it clings to it. They did everything they could to suppress the truth, yet today they have finally failed! They can deny the truth all that they want. However, their own great sin has now been revealed. The government and people of Bakaria demand their rightful independence from this corrupt, hypocritical and dishonest Domain! We will welcome any of our fellows in the north and other any people on this continent who want to join us in leaving the ‘Domain of Terranor’ behind and seeking a better future as sovereign nations. Freedom from the liars pulling the strings in Agharta is worth whatever might come. We will stand up and do what is right and what must be done for ourselves and for our descendants! We still do not want a war. However, at this point, we will take one over being enslaved by the craven liars who currently rule the Domain.”

The entire crowd was surprised by the furor that the Winslow Heiress had displayed. Mara had even surprised herself with the intensity with which she gave her speech. Mara finished, “Thank you for listening. To those of you with any sort of public platform, all that I ask is that you spread our story and spread the truth. The light of truth needs to shine on the United Church and bring all of their misdeeds into the public eye. Thank you all once again.”

Mara then gave a brief bow and allowed her father to take the podium from her. As she walked back to stand next to her mother, she wondered how fast and how effectively her enemies in Agharta would react to her exposing their secret. Isabella’s agents and the members of the press would hopefully get the story out. The question now was how much time would Bakaria and her potential allies have to prepare for their enemies’ counterattack?


	14. Terranor in Disarray

\---

The High Council of the United Church of God was gathered in their chamber once again. It had been two weeks since Mara Winslow had unveiled the United Church’s secret. It had turned out that Bakarian agents stationed across Terranor had spread the word of the church’s founders’ deceit as best as they could in the days that followed. Of course, the Winslow’s Heiress’s speech had been publicized in newspapers across Terranor and the world soon after she had given it. Anyone could see the clear and obvious disdain for the rulers of Terranor in her words. The Domain of Terranor’s founding documents had guaranteed freedom of the press. However, the United Church’s High Council had come to discover the damage that the press could do to their public legitimacy simply through reporting the news honestly. 

Kylana began the meeting by saying, “We have failed to stop the situation from getting out of hand. We underestimated our enemies in the north and now public opinion is rapidly polarizing. Every single Northern Province has rallied to Bakaria’s banner. They have all declared their independence and have committed to fight us together. Across our Domain, clergy members are resigning. Some have declared neutrality in the conflict and say that they will heal and aid whoever needs their help. Unlike those who have resigned, they still carry the blessing of the purple flame. As for the common people and even the army, the public is fracturing. Most dwarves still support us, as does most of the southern peninsula of Ruvia. However, provincial government are becoming deadlocked as rogue legislators propose secession, or other acts of rebellion.”

Sapphire sighed deeply and admitted, “My mission to Narvograd ended in abject failure. We failed to assassinate Alana Kubrick and we lost our entire Inquisition strike force. Bakaria’s militia turned out to be far better equipped and trained then we expected them to be.”

Alexander pointed out, “The Flame Duchy has declared their neutrality. They are offering to take in refugees if it becomes necessary. However, they have closed their borders to all others until this conflict has passed. To make matters worse, our divine patron, as we all know, has decided not to send their celestial servants to our aid. They have claimed that their armies are needed more on other worlds. We still have the use of the purple flame. However, our god does not seem to view this conflict as a just use of their forces. From their perspective, we are on our own.”

Kylana muttered angrily, “Our patron seems to be considering the possibility that concealing their true nature from our people was a bad idea. They may regret the very plan that made out victory over the Order of Light far easier.”

Durkal declared, “We need to ferret who among our army and navy is loyal to our cause and who cannot be trusted to fight for us. Many members of the populace still believe that we have their best interests at heart. They accept that our deception was worth the stability and justice we have brought this continent. Once we have a loyal force assembled, we need to send it north to Bakaria. If we can capture Narvograd, even raze the city if need be, we can end the main military threat to our reign quickly.”

Ernesto awkwardly said, “Fellow council members, we might have a problem regarding our military. …I was shown Knight Captain Woodstock’s Letter of Resignation recently. He and his wife and Vice-Captain, Sandra Woodstock have disappeared from this city.”

Alexander asked Ernesto, “What did the letter say?”

Ernesto responded, “It was quite impolite. Suffice to say, it was not a normal Letter of Resignation. The basic idea conveyed was that he intended to burn the United Church and all who stand with her to the ground for their dishonesty and tyranny. He also said that he would do so in the name of universal freedom.”

Sapphire felt a knot in her stomach. Purple fire streaming out of her eyes and hands. She knew that their situation had just gone from bad to nightmarish. Sapphire slammed a fist onto the table and seethed, “I always knew we not could trust that man! …Antonio Woodstock is a fanatic for what he calls the cause of liberty. He only joined the Holy Order of Knights for the power it granted him in battle. He got voted in as Knight Captain by the members on his combat record, not his piety. He was never religious; he only saw us as a means to an end. Now that he thinks we are in his way, he won’t stop until we are all in the ground. …Trust me, even without the purple flame, that man is a monster of a soldier. To make matters worse, thousands upon thousands of people here and around the world see him as a mighty hero. If he publically backs Mara Winslow’s movement, they will gain supporters across Terranor. As to how I know all of this, I was his commanding officer for long enough to learn what makes him tick. Once he has decided who his enemies are, he will not stop fighting and killing them until they are no longer a threat to his ideals.”

Durkal added, “That is all the more reason to consolidate out loyalist army and march them north to Bakaria. We need to head this crisis off before it becomes a full-blown rebellion. If Bakaria falls, we cut the head off of the snake.”

Kylana nodded and declared, “We need to convince as much of our public as possible to continue to put their faith in us. I also intend to secure this city and drive out, or suppress, as many of the disloyal here as we can. Durkal, I would like you to lead our army north to attack Bakaria and, if necessary, her allies. It will fall to you to defeat the Northern Uprising as we are to call it. I will stay in Agharta to command our operations from the Prime Church. Sapphire, I want you to go east to Playamar and make sure that we still have loyalists in the navy ready to sail alongside Durkal’s land forces. Also, you should do your best to shore up loyalty to our church in that region. You lived there for some time decades ago, after all. Ernesto, I want you to travel west, Alexander will go south. You two will be focused on putting down possible uprisings and cementing loyalty to our church in your respective regions.”

Recognizing Kylana’s seniority, the other members of the High Council all nodded, accepting her orders. Sapphire said, “I will take Sasha and Sheila with me if possible. Phineas will have business to attend to here in the capital still. If at all possible, we need to find out what Antonio Woodstock is up to. If he has his way, there won’t be a United Church of God for much longer.”

Kylana nodded and told her fellows, “We must not fail in our missions! All that we have built in Terranor is at stake. We must prove to our patron that we are worthy of their continued support. We also need to make sure that this continent can operate as a base for future expansion of our religion. I trust that you all will not let me, or our church, down. Godspeed to you all.”

As Sapphire left the Prime Church, she could not help but worry about why Kylana was still talking about missionary activity and expanding the UCG’s reach at a time like this? How much faith in their success and survival did the draconic High Priestess have? Sapphire decided not to dwell on it too much. She then left for home. She wanted to collect her daughter and possibly her sister for the trip to Playamar. It would good to see her former home again, even in a time of political crisis and looming war.

\---

Two days after the United Church had sent most of its leadership out from Agharta, Mara Winslow had just finished reviewing a unit of Bakarian troops in the front courtyard of Narvograd Palace. The United Church’s High Council had recently declared war on the “Northern Uprising.” However, the chaos that was rocking Terranor had prevented them from sending their army north for the time being. Also, most of the northern public had decided to support their leadership in their struggle for freedom from the Domain and the UCG. So far, things were going well from Mara’s perspective. At least as well as they could be going now that the war was on.

As Mara was heading to the war room downstairs, she was hoping that the Bakarian Militia, the War Tigers and the forces of their allied northern nations could repel the Domain’s loyalist army together. She was admittedly concerned about an enemy naval assault on Narvograd’s port. However, she was leaving that problem to the leadership of Bakaria’s coast guard units.

Mara found Victor waiting for her with Isabella and Talia in the war room. Everyone was poring over a map of southern Bakaria. They were especially focused on the areas that were not covered by mountains. The spots where an enemy land army would want to pour in from.

Isabella mentioned, “We have the defensive advantage. As far as my agents have told me, the enemy’s strategy will be to try and invade Bakaria first. They believe that capturing this city, even if they have to burn it to the ground, will end the war quickly. We will need to hold the enemy off at our southern border. If they get past the mountains, we will have lost access to our main natural defenses.”

Talia added, “Agreed. My units will most likely focus on sneak attacks and sabotage. We will try to thin their numbers and take out key targets and personnel. If we can force their main army to retreat, then we can likely force them to rescind any claim to the north.”

Victor pointed out, “Our allies have sent and are sending reinforcements to our southern border and are fortifying their own borders. However, we might be able to have them flank from the west and open a second front, thereby outmaneuvering the enemy.”

Mara smiled at Victor and joked, “You have a pretty good tactical eye for a sergeant.”

Victor told Mara, “I would hope to be at least a lieutenant in your army, Lady Winslow. Now what really worries me is that our enemy will have much greater access to healing and restorative magic than we will. I honestly wish Sugaru was here, he said that he was trained as a shaman. He told us stories about how his spells had come in handy against the Eulidians during the last war when we were staying at his family’s estate.”

Mara blushed, she had forgotten about her fiancé in all of the recent chaos. She had planned for him to come to Bakaria after her independence was secured. Now, she realized that she would have to win another war before she could see the man she loved again.

Talia then said, “Shamans are good healers, that much is true. My company has a few. I will do my best to assign them to your frontline units, rather than to my guerilla squads. They will probably be more needed in the thick of battle anyway.”

Isabella looked over at Mara and told Talia, “If you plan to make stealth strikes against the enemy, you should also devote some resources to destroying their artillery. We will prefer to not have too many enemy shells raining down on our heads.”

Talia nodded, clearly agreeing with Isabella.

Mara pointed out, “The enemy could begin marching their forces up here any day. We need to be ready to stop them at the southern border. Their main thrust will probably be targeted at the pass directly south of Narvograd. That was where we traveled through when we were going to investigate the Inquisition camp. We need to focus our best defenders on that pass. It will have to be fortified as thoroughly as it can be, given the time we have.”

Victor responded, “We already have work crews making sure that all of our border fortifications are as ready as possible. New structures are also being built as we speak. We just have to hope that our home-team advantage will be enough to let us seize victory.”

At that point, a Narvograd Palace Guard entered the war room. Following him was an excited looking Natalie Tolston. The guardsman saluted Mara and told her, “My Lady, a delegation has arrived in Bakaria looking to meet with you.”

Mara asked, clearly confused, “Who could that be? Negotiations have completely broken down!”

Natalie exclaimed, “They are mostly former Terranoran soldiers. Antonio Woodstock is leading them! His official message says that he is here to make sure that the United Church falls.”

Talia looked immensely relieved as Victor exclaimed, “Our old Captain came through for us!”

Mara smiled confidently and told the Palace Guard, “I will indeed want to meet with them as soon as possible.” She then thought, “I guess that we really are going to war. …Maybe the Cerberus Battalion is getting back together for round two?”


	15. The Second Rebellion

One day after Mara had been alerted of their presence, a small, but well-equipped, group describing themselves as former Terranoran soldiers arrived peacefully in Narvograd. Mara Winslow and Victor Nikolov had agreed to meet with the delegation’s heads. These people were their old comrades after all.

In one of the smaller, more private, conference rooms of Narvograd Palace, Mara and Victor were seated next to each other. Nearby them was Talia Fujiwhara, who had asked to attend the meeting to represent her company. All three of them were well dressed. Their guests did not seem to currently have access to formal wear. However, they had come bearing weapons and an offer of aid. Right now, both of those things were more important to Mara and her allies than formality.

Sitting across the table from Mara, Victor and Talia were two light-skinned, blonde haired humans. One of them was the hulking, muscular and confident Antonio Brown Woodstock. The casually dressed former Knight Captain’s eyes no longer sparked with purple lightning, as the eyes of knights of the church normally did. The same could be said for his wife and former apprentice, Sandra Burke Woodstock. The young beauty with flowing blond hair sat loyally beside her husband. Also in the room was the dark-skinned West-Terranoran former Corporal, James Benson. The delegation was rounded out by a light-skinned woman with long black hair and a muscular man with dark grey hair and a similar complexion to the woman next to him. Mara remembered Cerberus Battalion sergeants Mia Buraig and Bradley Falchum. Mia had been the ace sniper of the battalion and Bradley had been assigned to be her bodyguard and spotter by Captain Woodstock. Mara remembered that Bradley had always been a skeptic of religion and its value, a rare sight in the Terranoran Military, during the war with Imperial Eulidia.

Talia seemed to be in awe of the former Knight Captain, despite him not having done anything obviously impressive since arriving in Narvograd. Mara remembered that Talia had told her that Antonio Woodstock was the one Terranoran she would not face in battle if she could help it. The more bizarre thing regarding Talia at the moment was that Nalia, the malamute who seemed to enjoy Isabella’s company, was now sitting obediently at the feloid woman’s side. Why the dog wanted to be around someone who was essentially a humanoid big cat was beyond Mara.

Nalia was not the only dog in the room this time. There were two other canines present. Sandra was holding the leash of an incredibly fluffy dog that looked vaguely similar to a lion. This dog, named Trixie, was apparently a Chou-Chou, a breed from the far-off land of Chicala. Chicala had reportedly been torn apart by civil war between human and elf led factions for decades. Stranger yet was the dog currently happily sitting on the conference table. Mara recognized the breed as a Corgi, a small Eulidian dog favored by their upper class. The Corgi was happily wagging her tail and enjoying getting petted by either James or Victor.

Sandra apologetically told Mara, who was giving the Corgi a quizzical look, “Maisy really likes to climb on top of objects. We find her all sorts of places at home. You have to understand then we needed to take our dogs with us when we journeyed north. We did not want them to be alone, or even endangered, back in Agharta.”

Victor replied, beating Mara to the punch, “We remember how much your husband loves dogs. Why else would he have codenamed our unit, the 8th Assault Battalion, the ‘Cerberus Battalion?’”

Antonio reached a hand down to pet Trixie. He then explained, “Blind loyalty is a quality that I find detestable in people. However, it’s quite endearing in dogs. Dogs do not betray their masters. They are loving and sweet creatures, innocents in this world of conflict….”

Bradley interrupted, “Sir, maybe you should explain to Lady Winslow and her associates why we are here? We have an important offer to make. The fate of this continent may hinge on the outcome of this meeting.”

Antonio refocused himself and then leaned in. After quickly patting Maisy on the head, he looked Mara in the eyes. He told his former lieutenant, “Whether or not you realize it, you have lit a spark Winslow. Terranorans in every province are reconsidering their loyalty to the so-called United Church of God. While some areas remain mostly loyal to their rulers, many are starting to realize that they deserve leadership that respects them and does not lie to their faces.”

Mara replied, “I exposed the United Church because I wanted to follow through on a threat I made. I know that they had been keeping a major secret from their people and the world. However, I have to admit that my goal was, and remains, Bakarian and Northern independence.”

Antonio simply continued, “The evidence mounted up too much, the church has not denied what you revealed. The cat is out of the bag and the genie is out of the bottle. Now is the time to think big! Look, Mara, I get it. You want your homeland to be free of the church’s control. You have hired mercenaries, tried to blackmail the church and built up a strong coalition up here with that goal in mind. However, the UCG is out for your blood now. If they take this city, they will execute you and every major player who stood with you. The freedom loving people of Terranor are stronger together. Hopefully, they are strong enough to bring down the United Church for good. Like I said Mara, you lit the spark. Now, we are here to turn that spark into a raging inferno.”

Sandra added, “We only could bring a small group of about twenty soldiers here. We only brought a few civilian with us, friends and family of our troops. What matters more is that we have allies and sympathizers across this continent. We want to join with your forces and declare a general rebellion against the United Church of God.”

Antonio finished, “We will visit on them the same fate that they once visited on the mass murderers of the Order of Light. We will launch the Second Terranoran Rebellion and free Terranor from the fanatics who oppress her people! Of course, if you seek your own state once the war is over, that can surely be arranged.”

As Mara was thinking about whether or not to accept the Woodstocks’ offer, James told her, “I was unsure of whether or not rebellion was a worthy exercise. I come from a family that has served in the military for generations. My ancestors fought in the Western Division of the First Rebellion. I have been dating a girl named Gillian since the last war. I hope that if we get married and have children, they will never have to serve, or even live under, a government as dishonest and corrupt as the one currently in power.”

Mia pointed out, “Bradley and I were engaged recently. We don’t want our potential children to have to live under the church either. Bakaria started this conflict, we plan to wear dark blue and white uniforms to honor both your nation and the dark blue uniforms of the first rebellion. You have started an uprising, whether or not you like that reality. Now, it is your responsibility to follow through on what you began.”

Bradley finished, “Unless the United Church is overthrown, Bakaria will never have peaceful relations with the rest of the continent as an independent nation. You know you want to tear the UCG down, Mara. We are here to give you a chance to do just that.”

Mara balled up her hands into fists. She knew that her Cerberus Battalion Comrades were right. Even if the UCG did not deserve to be wiped off the face of Austean, it deserved to be removed from power for sure. She then sighed deeply. With everyone else in the room looking over at her, she announced, “Very well. I will have Bakaria and her allies join your broader rebellion. However, once this war is won, we want out of any reconstituted Domain you might create. I got into this for my homeland’s independence. I do not intend to forget that.”

Antonio grinned and extended a hand to shake Mara’s. As the two shook hands, he proclaimed, “Now, we just need to make it official. I hope that you can get another press conference ready quickly. I will need to address the public.”

Sandra added, “With my husband publically taking on a leadership role in the new rebellion, we believe that new supporters will flock to our banner. We will take the so-called High Council down for good!”

Antonio then looked over at Talia and mentioned, “Talia Fujiwhara, Captain of the War Tiger unit, right? I heard that your company did some solid work aiding the Tatsumi family of Northern Fadalia in driving off the Eulidians. I guess we can use a world-class infiltration unit. I might not be the stealthy type myself, but whatever gets the job done, you know?”

Talia seemed surprised and impressed that the _Avenging Blade _had noticed her and knew of her company. She quickly saluted him and said, “Yes sir! It will be an honor to fight on the same side as yourself. I intend to fulfill my contractual obligations to Lady Winslow, even if that means taking this war all the way to Agharta, or even Ruvia. My units will do everything we can to keep the enemy off balance. They literally won’t know what hit them!”

Antonio simply smiled and nodded at Talia. Victor told Mara, “I assume that we need to call another press conference ASAP? There should be plenty of reporters in Narvograd already, considering what has been going on.”

Mara got up from the table, as Sandra picked up Maisy and put her down on the floor. The Winslow Heiress explained, “I have been given command of Bakaria’s militia. Captain Woodstock, even though I will have to approve all major decisions relating to Bakarian forces, I assume that you will act as the military leader of the Second Rebellion. I will get a press conference ready for you to take place tomorrow.”

Antonio simply nodded, still grinning. He then declared, “Together, we waged a successful struggle against imperialism and bigotry abroad! Now, the war comes home! We will see Terranor liberated from the fraudulent faith of the United Church, no matter the cost!”

After the meeting concluded, Mara was able to arrange a press conference for Antonio to take place the next day. When everyone gathered in front of Narvograd Palace for the event, they were treated to the former Knight Captain’s passionate declaration of war against his former employers. Standing out in particular was the conclusion of his speech. It went, “Faith is a dangerous and powerful thing. The United Church has abused the faith that millions of people have placed in them and their god. They have deceived nearly all of us. Now, their true nature has been revealed and it is an ugly one at that. No longer will the proud people of Terranor have to bow down before a dishonest and power hungry church! We will not stop until the United Church is removed from power and properly punished for its abuses! Today, the Second Terranoran Rebellion begins! I ask all Terranorans who wish to live freely to join with us in this historic movement. No more will craven liars consolidate power in their hands. It is time for the end of theocracy!”

As the press conference concluded with Antonio answering questions, Mara knew that more than ever the gauntlet had been thrown down. There was truly no turning back now. For the first time in thirteen decades, Terranor was engaged in a civil war.

After the press conference concluded, Isabella walked up to Mara and excitedly told her, “I just told the former Knight Captain and Vice-Captain of the Holy Order of Knights the truth about my parentage. …They did not seem to care! I think that we on our way, Mara. Once the UCG no longer holds the reins of power, I won’t have to fear them anymore!”

Mara smiled back over at Isabella. She then mentioned, something from earlier still on her mind, “Did you see the Woodstock’s Corgi, Maisy?”

Isabella chuckled and replied, “You are always so curious, My Lady. Yes, I have seen Maisy. She is always finding her way onto things that a dog with such short legs really should not be able to climb. …I wonder if it is her core strength? Maybe she is just a really muscular dog under her fur? Think about who her owners are after all.”

Mara just nodded. She asked Isabella, “You know that we will have to march south to the border soon. We will need your agents and whatever sympathetic allies they can gather to spy on the enemy’s troop movements. We will want to know roughly when their army will reach Bakaria.”

Isabella saluted Mara. She said, “I will do my best, My Lady.” Isabella paused and asked, “One more question. When the battle breaks out, should I be on the frontlines, or with Talia’s stealth forces trying to sabotage the enemy?”

Mara replied, “I trust you to make the right choice. For now, I need to speak with my father and parliament about setting up a military parade to boost morale in the capital. We will want everyone in Bakaria on board with defending our homeland when the UCG’s troops arrive.”

Isabella saluted Mara one more time and left to go find Talia after that. Mara departed to meet with her father. She knew that it was only a matter of time until the United Church’s forces were marched to Bakaria’s southern border. That was where the first major battle of the Second Terranoran Civil War would be fought.


	16. The Winslow Line

Over the two weeks immediately following the declaration of the Second Terranoran Rebellion, the armies of the north built up their forces and prepared for the onslaught that was soon to come. Reports of uprisings and defections of military units to the rebels’ side were starting to come in from all across Terranor. However, most of the United Church’s Loyalist Army was now on the march north. They intended to seize Narvograd, which had become the default rebel capital. Mara Winslow and Antonio Woodstock were determined to stop them at Bakaria’s southern border.

Reports from rebel sympathizers and intelligence agents had pinpointed the enemy’s attack vector. They believed that most of the Loyalist Army, led by High Priest Durkal Stoneshield, was making a beeline for the lowland area between two mountains directly south of the Bakarian Capital. The road that they were traveling led right to Narvograd’s southern gate. A couple of smaller units were making their way for the other passes leading into Bakaria. However, those units were likely to be intercepted and repelled by rebel forces ambushing them from the mountains. The other Northern Provinces had sent most of their military strength to Bakaria’s southern border. They hoped that a decisive victory there would put the UCG on the defensive.

Antonio Woodstock, who had become the widely accepted military leader of the rebel armies, was also hoping to halt the loyalist advance into the north at the Bakarian border. After repelling the loyalist invasion, the ex-Knight Captain was planning to invade south into Galatia. From there, the main rebel army would flank far to the west. The would attempt to eventually circumnavigate the ancient fortress of Heaven’s Spire, which had defended Agharta for centuries. After maneuvering around Heaven’s Spire, the rebels hoped to capture Agharta. The First Terranoran Civil War had ended when the continental capital was taken, the second would hopefully end the same way.

Soon after presiding over a military parade in Narvograd, Mara had led her militia south, leaving only a small rear guard in the Bakarian capital. Bakaria’s coast guard ships, aided by a few vessels from the other northern states, were to defend Narvograd’s port at all costs. Reports on what was going on with the loyalist navy were harder to come by. Therefore, the possibility of Narvograd being attacked by a naval invasion force was still very real. Antonio had also been privately working on a plan which he said, if successful, would rob the enemy of a key source of war material. He did not want his secret plan to have any chance of leaking out to the loyalists, so he kept it to himself. Mara noted that secrecy was uncharacteristic for her former commanding officer. He normally preferred to be open and truthful with his soldiers and comrades. Maybe something in him had actually changed? Or, maybe this particular plan was too important to risk exposing to the loyalists.

Despite the uprisings and skirmishes that were taking place all over the continent, the future of Terranor would likely be decided in the north first. Fortunately for the rebels, every province in the northern bloc had sent whoever they spare could to defend the road to Narvograd. The line between two mountains that were only about a mile apart had been rapidly fortified. A series of trenches had been dug and stone and wood defensive towers had been erected at various points. As for the mountains flanking the pass, a few hundred feet up the slopes decades-old Bakarian defensive positions from the frontier days still stood. These old fortifications had been quickly updated with modern artillery and sniper’s nests. Those bunkers’ occupants would be charged with raining down fire and lead on the loyalist army from their elevated perches. A series of other cover positions and low walls, as well as a few long-range mortars, had been positioned behind the front line between the mountains as well.

In terms of the combatants who were to defend what had been dubbed the _Winslow Line_ by both sides, the Bakarian Militia had sent almost every soldier, both professionals and new volunteers, they could spare to hold the trenches, bunkers and towers and man the artillery. Rebel volunteers and soldiers from the provinces directly to the south had also flocked to Bakaria to follow Antonio Woodstock’s example. The other Northern Provinces had sent both civilized troops with modern equipment and some less-conventional forces. Orc berserkers, ice giant warriors, goblin skirmishers and tamed snow vargs would provide heavy close-range support and rapid strike units for the rebels. Talia Fujiwhara’s War Tigers had set up a series of hidden positons on Galatian soil. They intended to ambush the rear of the loyalist formation and focus on destroying artillery and killing enemy officers, chaplains and arcanists.

On the opposing side, the rebels expected to face a force of mostly humans, deep elves and dwarves. However, support from flame giant heavy infantry and military chaplains were likely to be major advantages for the loyalists. Also, the question of a loyalist navy task force assaulting Narvograd while the battle for the _Winslow Line_ was joined still hung over the rebels’ battle preparations. 

Two weeks from the declaration of the Second Rebellion, the main loyalist army had been sighted. They theoretically could have brought far more units with them. However, having to deal with a growing number of scattered, yet dangerous, uprisings and paranoia about who was still loyal to the United Church had limited the size of the invasion force. A couple of much smaller units had been reported as having broken off to try and find other ways into Bakaria. They intended to outflank the _Winslow Line_. However, the main loyalist force of thousands was the primary concern of the rebels. If they could hold off most of this army and force their retreat, the United Church would be in dire straits. Mara simply wanted to end the war as quickly as possible. She hoped that Agharta would fall quickly if the rebels were able to repel the force about to attempt an armed invasion of her homeland. 

The evening before it was believed the Loyalist Army would march on the _Winslow Line_, Mara met with Antonio, Isabella, Victor and Mia in a briefing tent located behind the defensive positions.

Antonio began, “I know that the War Tigers have a good reputation for pulling off challenging stealth and sabotage missions. Still, I just hope that they can destroy a significant portion of the enemy’s heavy artillery. With any luck, the big guns will be far enough behind the enemy’s main infantry forces that they will comparatively undefended.”

Isabella told Mara, “I have decided, now that we are facing the church’s forces in open battle, that I will stand with you and Victor. I intend to make up for not being by your side during the war with Eulidia.”

Mara nodded to Isabella and explained, “I have decided that I will stay near the top of the frontline’s centermost tower. I intend to coordinate our artillery strikes coming from behind the line and from our mountain bunkers. Victor will be there to guard me personally.”

Mia told Isabella, “I have a spare sniper rifle, if you want to make yourself useful while standing by your Lady. I will also be stationed in the central tower. My job will be to target enemy spellcasters and other elite units and attempt to eliminate them from afar.”

Isabella smiled at Mia and told her, “Works for me. I might prefer fighting up close and personal, but I certainly do not mind sniping if that’s what the situation calls for.”

Victor chimed in, “I have access to an accuracy enhancement spell that will help you two out quite a bit. I have not had a chance to cast it in quite a while come to think of it.”

Antonio explained, “As for our frontline, Sandra, James and Bradley will all be with me. We will be trying to defend the trenches near the center of the line, right in front of the central tower. My hope is that we can intercept their units with artillery and sniper fire and thin their forces down by the time they reach the trenches. If Captain Fujiwhara is able to shut down enough of their artillery units, then we won’t have to deal with hostile shells raining from the sky.”

Mara thought for a moment and mentioned, “From what I know of Durkal Stoneshield, the High Priest who is commanding the enemy forces, he has a strong sense of law and justice. He will want to win the battle fair and square. Therefore, he is less likely to use trickery and guerilla warfare tactics against us. Even though he sent in a few flanking units, in the hopes that they could get around our defenses, he wants to best us in a straightforward battle. That is why I am not expecting many surprises from our land-bound enemies. We will have to see though.”

Antonio pointed out, “Typical dwarven warfare. They are a lot like orcs, giants, and me in that sense. They prefer to win a direct fight than use any subtle strategies. However, they are still worthy opponents and dangerous up close. As you all should know, they are masters of defensive combat. The real reason I decided that we should attack Agharta from the west is to avoid having to possibly deal with Cavernhold. That old dwarven citadel might be more of a museum than anything now, but it could still prove a tough nut to crack if we had to assault it.”

Victor smiled and said, “The loyalists and their leader have never dealt with the likes of the War Tigers. I have faith in Talia and her troops. She did leave some of her heavy infantry with us, along with their quartermaster, Oliver Forrester. I think that they will prove invaluable in this battle.”

Isabella gave Victor and wink and told him, “You have certainly warmed up to Talia. I guess we will see what her frontline units can do tomorrow.”

Antonio declared, “We will all need to get some good rest tonight. Skirmishes have been erupting all over, but tomorrow will see the first real battle of this war take place. You all are dismissed.”

As Mara was turning to leave after everyone else had headed off, Antonio told her, “We are going to get these bastards, Mara. They fooled us all, and you know that I don’t like being made a fool of.”

Mara turned back to her former Captain and told him, “Yes sir. Once this war is over, Bakaria can finally be free and the United Church will oppress and lie to the people no longer.”

Antonio nodded. Then, his face took on a lighter tone and he asked Mara, “You are sure that your old man and his servants can take care of Maisy and Trixie? They can be quite a handful… especially Maisy with all of her climbing and jumping.”

Mara chuckled a bit and told Antonio, “I think that they will be fine. Remember that everyone in Narvograd in counting on us. We need to hold the line.”

Antonio nodded while smiling, saluted Mara and then wandered off to find Sandra.

Mara went over to her personal tent and did her best to get some sleep. She knew that the rebel armies could not afford to fail tomorrow. If the enemy advanced past their defenses, they would have pretty much a straight shot at Narvograd. The _Winslow Line _would have to hold against the Loyalist Army.


	17. The Defense of Bakaria

It was late morning and the early summer sun shone over the _Winslow Line_. The assorted rebel and war tiger personnel stood ready for the loyalist assault. They manned the rapidly constructed trenches, towers and barricades that defended what had previously been the main road leading into Bakaria from the south. The Bakarian flag flew above the defensive towers. It featured a dark blue background with a white star at the center. The star was rimmed by gold and flanked by the image of a rapier on one side and a musket, a now outdated firearm, on the other. The flags of other northern nations flew above where their units had positioned themselves.

Many of the newly-arrived Terranoran rebels wore dark blue and white uniforms based on the uniforms of the Bakaria Militia. Many of those uniforms were actually repainted loyalist uniforms. However, many others wore the uniforms of their homeland’s forces, or whatever armor they could gather that was not painted in the light blue and orange of the loyalists.

The War Tiger troops were dressed in black and gold uniforms. Their small corps of shamans, along with a few druids and healers from the various militias, would provide the rebels with some degree of healing and restorative magic. Healing magic was a critical resource that the loyalists were likely to have more access to then the rebel defenders.

Mara Alastair Winslow was standing on one of the upper decks of the line’s central tower. She could only hope that the rapidly erected towers’ stone, wood and packed earthwork construction would not prove too easily destroyed by the loyalist’s artillery. Mara knew that she would have to rely on Talia and her guerrilla squads to ambush the enemy’s artillery units and silence as many of the big guns as possible.

Victor walked over next to his Lady and told her, “Our forward scouts have returned. They say that the enemy army appears to have set up their artillery and is advancing on our position.”

Mara nodded, she could see the massive formation moving north towards the _Winslow Line_ in the distance. She got out her binoculars and told Victor, “Antonio will be in command of our troops on the ground. Make sure that our lines of communication with the bunkers above us are working. I intend to try and direct our artillery strikes so that they deal the maximum amount of damage to the enemy formation.”

Victor mentioned, “It’s a good thing that you occasionally had to act as a forward spotter for Alfonso’s artillery unit during the last war.”

Mara simply nodded, as she surveyed the advancing mass of enemy soldiers. A small number of flame giants stood tall above the main formation. They were armed with massive greatswords and appropriately sized shotguns. Looking down at her forces, she saw their ice giant troops gripping their battleaxes. She had not seen giants clash on the battlefield since the last war. Mara also hoped that the enemy had not brought any dragons with them. Even a couple of those mighty creatures could turn the tide of a battle if intelligently deployed.

Mara heard Mia, who was looking through her sniper rifle’s scope saying, “I see no airborne units. That is good news for us at least. I expect their artillery to open fire any minute. They will want to shell our position before their troops get too close.”

Isabella then arrived on the deck. She was carrying a sniper rifle and her normal pair of swords. Victor got ready to cast his accuracy enhancing spell on the two women’s weapons as Mara continued to observe the fast-approaching loyalist formation.

Mara made a series of mental notes and ran over to a series of telephones readied on a table nearby her position. Mara told Victor, “Relay my orders to the bunkers before you cast your spell on their weapons. I am going to call our backline mortar positions and tell them to open fire. I think that the enemy is just close enough now. They are speeding up their approach.”

Sure enough, Mia called out, “They should be in mortar range now. Their frontline is mainly composed of dwarves with heavy shields and revolvers, axes or warhammers. The flame giants are moving up as well. If we can take out a good number of the dwarves with artillery, that will make their backlines more vulnerable to gunfire.”

Mara was already on the phone with the commander of the artillery crews positioned behind the _Winslow Line_. Victor got on the line with the commander of each of the mountain slope bunkers and told them to begin opening fire. It was not long until the sound of heavy cannons opening fire erupted from behind the _Winslow Line_. Mara then saw a series of flashes accompanied by thunderous noise coming from the bunkers on both sides of her.

A series of fast-moving flaming streaks came down on the enemy army. The vast mass of soldiers was hit by the cascade of explosive shells. Many of the artillery rounds found their mark, hitting the front line of enemy troops. One flame giant dropped dead after taking a direct hit to the head from one of the bunker cannons. 

Then, while the rebels’ cannons were still reloading for another salvo, a series of flashes of light and thunderous booms erupted from behind the loyalist formation. A swarm of artillery shells flew towards the _Winslow Line_. However, their gunners seemed to have misjudged their shots as most of the shells impacted the ground short of the trenches. One of the towers took a glancing hit and the trenches took a couple of shells. However, most of the defensive lines stood ready to face the horde of, now charging, loyalist infantry.

Mara was worried that the loyalist gunners would adjust their aim and blow the towers away with another salvo. However, she maintained her calm and phoned her backline gunners, telling them to fire another salvo of shells as soon as they could.

Mia shouted, “They are entering firing range. Isabella, focus your fire on any enemies who look like chaplains! They are our most important targets!”

Isabella looked down her rifle’s scope and simply replied, “With pleasure, ma’am.”

Victor ran over to Mia and Isabella, his hands glowing. He then grabbed each of their weapons briefly in turn and told them, “Happy hunting, ladies.”

Mia and Isabella began to open fire on the advancing loyalist force. Rebel snipers across the _Winslow Line _followed their lead. Mara ordered Victor to call up the bunker cannons and order them to fire at will. She trusted her artillery captains to pick their targets intelligently.

At this point, gunfire was beginning to be exchanged between the two armies. The rebel giants and berserkers had made their way to the front of the trenches and were readying to charge once the enemy infantry was close enough.

Mara watched as she saw just how far back the loyalist formation went. They had brought thousands of soldiers for the invasion of Bakaria. As she was pondering what Antonio’s strategy for his soldiers in the trenches would be, she heard the thundering of cannons behind her. The mortar crews were firing again. The cannons in the bunkers followed suit. The loyalist horde took another barrage of artillery fire. This time, their backlines took the brunt of the barrage.

By now the front ranks of loyalist formation were almost to the trenches. The enemy artillery fired off another salvo. However, most of the shells were aimed at the mountain bunkers this time. The enemy gunners likely knew that their allies would almost certainly be in danger from friendly fire if they fired on the central _Winslow Line _again. The Bakarian bunkers withstood the artillery barrage. However, they did take a few hits.

Mara looked as far south as she could with her binoculars. She could just make out the enemy’s artillery units lined up with their barrels pointed upwards and towards the Bakarian bunkers.

Suddenly, Mara saw what looked like an explosion coming from the loyalist artillery positon on the far left. She could not help but smile as she realized that Talia had likely begun her ambush.

Mara proclaimed to her allies, “It looks like the War Tiger guerillas have begun their attack on the enemy’s artillery units. As long as our bunkers remain intact and able to keep firing, we should be able to stop the enemy’s advance here.”

Victor nodded, as Mia and Isabella kept up firing on the enemy troops, focusing their fire on the enemy’s chaplains. He also mentioned, “Those flame giants are getting closer. Our ice giants are moving in to engage them. Looks like our giants and berserkers are charging… Antonio and Sandra are leading some of our forces out of the trenches.”

Mara grinned as she reported, “I see more enemy artillery going up in flames. I hope that they can capture some of those big guns. We could use them going forward.”

Mara put down her binoculars and then ran over to give orders to her mortar crews. She wanted them to focus on the enemy backline so as to make friendly fire less likely. Sniper fire from the bunkers was taking down enemy troops and peppering the flame giants with lead. Mia took down an injured flame giant about to fire his shotgun at some rebel infantry with a bullet that hit right between his eyes. Isabella grinned and shouted, “I got another chaplain! Hit him right in the throat!”

Victor sighed and told Isabella, “I think you are enjoying this too much.”

Isabella loaded a fresh clip and then bolted her rifle. She took aim at another target and then told Victor, “These people consider my life a crime. I am only fighting for my right to live.”

Mara sighed herself and pointed out, as she surveyed the battle below them, “I used to wear one of their uniforms. This continent once fought as one. Now, we are tearing each other to pieces. I know that I have had quite a hand in this monstrous mess. Still, the sight of all this destruction and bloodshed does not please me as much as one might think.”

Mia then called out, as she was looking down her rifle’s scope, “At least their artillery has not fired for quite some time. Your mercenaries seem to have created an excellent distraction for their gunners. …Wait… I think I see the enemy commander. Durkal Stoneshield is here! He is surrounded by a field of purple flames. He is wielding a glowing axe and shield. He is leading a dwarven heavy squad right for the center of our lines.”

Mara told Victor, “Send my orders to the other bunker!” She quickly ran to one of the phones leading to the bunkers. She called up the commander and told him, “I want your big guns to fire on the cloud of purple flames advancing on our center line! We cannot allow their High Priest to reach the trenches!”

The bunker commander, as Victor gave the same orders to the gunnery officer on the opposite side, responded, “Yes My Lady! We will open fire on his unit post haste!”

Mara put down the phone and then looked down at the battle below. It was turning into quite a melee. The enemy troops just kept coming. However, rebel mortar and gun fire kept thinning their numbers. Antonio Woodstock had just hacked off a flame giant’s leg, allowing her to be taken out by a trio of orc berserkers. Ice and flame giants locked weapons as both sides traded gunfire from the trenches and behind heavy shield bearers. Sandra was leading Bradley and James and a number of other rebels in a charge attempting to reach, and wipe out, a unit of enemy spellcasters.

Victor pointed out, “I think that our former Captain has seen the enemy commander!”

Mara looked down at the blasted area just beyond the rebel trenches and saw that Antonio was holding his massive sword _Fury _in one hand and taking aim at Durkal’s troops using his revolver in his other hand. A couple dwarven soldiers fell to well-aimed shots as the loyalist elite unit charged forward. Durkal stopped for a moment to try and heal his comrades. However, the barrage of shells from the bunkers impacted the dwarves just as he stopped advancing. The dwarven soldiers around the High Priest were all blown away in clouds of sparks, shrapnel and blood.

When the dust cleared, Durkal Stoneshield still stood. However, his field of purple flames was gone. Mara grinned. She realized that Antonio had anticipated her plan and waited for the artillery barrage to weaken his foe. The _Avenging Blade _then eagerly charged Durkal.

Durkal raised his shield and narrowly braced himself against Antonio’s massive blade. He then sheathed his axe in purple fire and prepared to counterattack.

Isabella shouted, “Oh no you don’t!” She sniped Durkal’s axe arm successfully. The High Priest winced in pain and tried to heal his wound with his shield arm. However, Antonio delivered another mighty blow with his mighty sword. This time, the slash severed Durkal’s shield arm. The High Priest was now left with only one arm and that arm was badly injured.

Mia focused on covering Antonio by sniping loyalist troops who tried to come to their leader’s aid. Isabella did the same. Mara and Victor prepared to call in orders to have their artillery continue to focus on the enemy backlines. However, Mara took one last look through her binoculars and saw Antonio impaling Durkal on _Fury’s _massive blade. The former Knight Captain of the Holy Order of Knights had just slain a High Priest of the United Church of God. 

As more rebel mortar fire rained from the sky and the enemy artillery had still not fired for some time, Mara saw that the enemy was losing soldiers and cohesion fast. More rebel troops were stepping out of the trenches and taking the fight to the loyalist units.

Victor said, “This could end up being a major rout for the church’s army. We have killed their commander and Talia’s forces seem to have silenced their heavy artillery. The _Winslow Line _is holding!”

The battle continued below the towers. The rebel forces, led by Antonio Woodstock, were now starting to scythe into the loyalist formation from multiple angles. Mara continued to direct the mortars behind the line. However, she would do her best to keep her eyes on her former Captain. She saw him slice four enemy soldiers in half with one tremendous slash of _Fury _in one instance. More and more rebels were starting to advance south of the _Winslow Line _to engage the splintered loyalist forces. The battle had turned against the enemy.

As the rebels continued to advance south, the loyalists began to retreat. With their leader dead and their lines fractured in multiple places, the church’s army began to fall back.

Mara saw the situation unfolding through her binoculars. She then looked over to Victor and ordered him, “Have our mortars behind the line stop firing for now. The bunker gunners can keep targeting the enemy, since they have line of sight to them.”

Victor asked Mara, “What are you going to do?”

Mara walked over to the nearby weapons rack and grabbed her rapier, shotgun, combat knife and revolver. She then told Victor, “I am going to go help pursue the enemy. They are in full retreat. Hopefully, Talia’s forces can help us flank them and deal a crushing blow to their forces here.”

Isabella put down her sniper rifle and grabbed a shorter-range bolt-action rifle. She told Mara, “I will be right behind you.”

Mia added, “I will stay here and keep sniping the enemy until I run out of ammunition. You two better get moving. The loyalists are retreating fast.”

Mara and Isabella made their way down some ladders and stairs to the base of the tower. They then ran past the trenches to pursue the fleeing loyalists. It was time to end this battle.


	18. Pursuing the Enemy

The _Winslow Line _had held. The newly-formed Second Terranoran Rebellion and their War Tiger allies had stopped the Loyalist Army’s advance into Bakaria. The rebels were now driving the enemy back. Antonio Woodstock had slain High Priest Durkal Stoneshield and the loyalists had lost their flame giant heavy units. To add to the retreating enemy’s woes, their artillery seemed to have been silenced by the War Tigers’ guerilla ambush. Shells continued to rain down from the Bakarian bunkers dug into the mountainsides on each side of the _Winslow Line_. Between the main rebel force that was charging out of their trenches and Talia’s squad of saboteurs, the loyalists were facing a near complete rout.

Mara Alastair Winslow was now joining the rebel charge out from the defensive line that bore her family’s name. Since the enemy was still a good distance from her, she was wielding her revolver. She did not know where Antonio Woodstock was now. However, he was likely trying to regroup with his wife Sandra and their other Cerberus Battalion comrades.

Following Mara closely was her spymaster Isabella Vladis. Isabella was wearing a lightly-armored Bakarian uniform and carrying a bolt-action rifle.

Mara and Isabella rapidly advanced south of the _Winslow Line_. They were determined to catch up with their allies and do their best to help take a bite out of the retreating enemy. Mara could see in the distance that the loyalist retreat was becoming less and less organized. They were now simply trying to get out of range of the rebel snipers still firing from the _Winslow Line._

Isabella and Mara were both trained in the art of reconnaissance and only lightly armored. Therefore, they were able to move much faster than most soldiers. This allowed them to reach the front of the rebel vanguard relatively quickly.

Mara soon saw a small group of loyalist troops opening fire on the advancing rebels in the distance. These loyalists were not retreating. Realizing that the enemies were trying to cover someone or something, Mara returned fire with her heavy revolver, dropping one of the enemies with a bullet to the head.

Isabella dropped to one knee and quickly began firing her rifle at the enemies who were standing and fighting. As Isabella and Mara continued to open fire, they were joined by other rebel troops. However, other rebels ran right past the exchange. They were likely looking for fleeing loyalists to run down.

As the remains of the small loyalist squad began to fall back, Isabella shouted, “I think I see a couple of enemy chaplains. They were trying to protect them while they healed the wounded.”

Mara looked over to where Isabella was pointing and did see a pair of well-armored enemy soldiers with holy symbols of the United Church around their necks. Mara took a shot at one of the retreating enemy soldiers, hitting him in the leg and forcing her to drop to one knee.

As one of the two enemy chaplains ran to try and heal the soldier Mara had wounded, Isabella charged forward with her two swords drawn. Right behind her were two human rebel soldiers and an orc berserker.

As Mara was about to call out to Isabella, a bullet whizzed past her head. She turned and saw a loyalist sniper standing in the open and taking aim at her.

Mara thrust her entire body to one side as her foe prepared another shot. The second bullet flew past her, missing by a greater margin. Mara then realized that her revolver was out of ammunition.

Mara rapidly began to reload her sidearm while doing her best to dodge and weave. She saw the enemy sniper getting a third shot ready. Mara stopped loading her revolver with only two bullets ready. She rapidly raised her weapon and fired off one shot.

The bullet hit the loyalist sniper in the chest. She dropped to the ground, her rifle discharging harmlessly into the air as she fell.

Mara breathed a heavy sigh of relief and quickly finished reloading her weapon. She thought, “There is really no cover out here. That was part of why we are winning. Just like a dwarven commander to think superior numbers and brute force will always win the day.”

Mara then scanned the battlefield, she saw Isabella slicing the head off of an enemy soldier with one sword and impaling another with her second blade. She also saw that the loyalist stragglers were starting to get farther away from their rebel pursuers.

Not sure where her other allies were in the chaos of the battle, Mara kept moving south. She kept her revolver ready. She also made sure to keep scanning the area for any foes still in range. One thing she was sure of was that she had to be closing in on the enemy’s artillery positions. Hopefully, she could meet up with Talia’s guerillas soon.

Mara suddenly heard a loud thundering noise and saw four flashes of light to the south. She quickly realized that those flashes had to have come from enemy artillery. Had the remaining enemy gunners rallied? Were they trying to cover their fleeing infantry’s retreat? Only a few enemy guns had fired. Had most of them been destroyed or captured by Talia’s soldiers?

As Mara pondered what was going on, she heard a whistling noise in the air above her. She realized that one of the shells was streaking right for her position. Mara ran south as fast as she could. However, the artillery shell impacted the earth behind her with a deafening crash.

Mara had no time to think or attempt to effectively dodge the shrapnel and fire that came her way. A large piece of metal lodged itself in her abdomen and smaller pieces flew into her body at various angles. Mara was thrown to the ground where she lay, bleeding heavily.

The Winslow Heiress was still holding her revolver as she looked down at her wounded body. She coughed up some blood onto her empty hand. She knew that she was alive, but badly wounded and bleeding out.

Mara was about to try to force herself to her feet so that she could try to reach friendly troops and get help. However, she heard a voice shouting, “Is that her? The Bakarian heiress?”

A second voice added, “I think so? Her appearance matches the woman in the newspaper pictures. If we kill her, then we’ll at least have something to show for this miserable failure of an operation when we return to Garblest.”

The first voice responded, “Weapons free then! Let’s off her and join the retreat before we get overwhelmed.”

Barely able to lift and try to aim her revolver, Mara looked up and saw a pair of loyalist troops with their rifles trained on her. She grimaced at them, thinking, “It can’t end like this. Just gunned down by these grunts…”

Mara then heard a screeching noise as two twirling beams of blood red energy flew into view. The two enemy soldiers aimed their rifles in direction the magical projectiles had come from. However, they each took a blast to the chest and were knocked backwards before they could open fire.

Mara saw her foes crumpling into heaps. She then lowered her weapons and thought, as she began to black out from blood loss, “What kind of spell was that? I have never seen Victor cast anything like…”

Mara closed her eyes, she felt so weak. The artillery shrapnel had hit her hard and fast. She just wished that she had been more focused on running and less inquisitive. Maybe she could have gotten out of the blast zone if she had not spent so much time questioning what was going on?

As the Winslow Heiress felt her breathing getting lighter and lighter, she realized that she could not even open her eyes. She could barely even hear the sounds of the battle around her. Then, there was a tremendous flash of white and green light.

Mara opened her eyes. Suddenly, her vitality began to rapidly return to her. She looked up at the sky. Her breathing was beginning to speed up, becoming normal and healthy again. She no longer felt the twisted shrapnel in her stomach and back. As she blinked a few times, she heard a man’s voice saying, “Looks like I got here just in time.”

Mara froze up completely, she knew that voice all too well. She looked directly in front of her and saw a human man around her age with slightly dark skin, black hair and glasses. He was wearing a dark-green chainmail shirt and dark brown pants. His belt had a revolver and a curved, masterfully made, short sword holstered and sheathed respectively.

The man took Mara’s hand and gently helped pull her to her feet. Mara was still speechless as the new arrival told her, “You never said fighting the Domain of Terranor, or exposing their secret, was part of your secession plan…”

Mara babbled, “It wasn’t. They were intransigent! I did not want you to come here until things were settled… but you came anyway? I am sorry that I haven’t sent you any letters recently… I have been so busy and…”

The man in the dark green armor looked around for a moment. He then simply put a hand on Mara’s cheek and brushed her hair with his fingers, he told her, “Like I said, I am just glad that I got here in the nick of time. I am here now, Mara. We will see this through, together.”

Mara Winslow embraced Sugaru Zaki of Fadalia, her fiancé. As the two lovers held each other tightly, the voice of Victor Nikolov could be heard saying, “Good, Sugaru found you, My Lady. …He just showed up after you and Isabella charged into the fray. He told me he had come from Narvograd. He had left the capital as soon as he learned we were about to engage the loyalists in battle.”

Mara disengaged her embrace and then looked around. As she picked up and holstered her revolver, she scanned the horizon and saw that the few surviving loyalists seemed to have fled the battlefield. The artillery on both sides had been silent ever since the barrage that had nearly killed her.

Sugaru explained to his betrothed, “As soon as I learned that the situation here had deteriorated to the point of war, I asked my family for permission to leave to aid you. When they learned that the famed _Avenging Blade _himself was leading the rebel military, they granted me permission to come. Once the ship I was on reached Narvograd, I was met with a blockade of your fleet’s ships. I was able to prove who I was and was allowed through. When I entered the city, I was told what was going on. I got a horse from the Palace Guard and rode down here as fast as I could.”

Victor added, “He showed up on horseback minutes after you and Isabella left to join our vanguard. We met as I was leaving the central tower. I told him what was going on as I was looking for a unit to lead out of the trenches. He then took off to find you alone. I decided to follow him by myself soon after he left our lines.”

Mara nodded and ordered, still shaken yet relieved, “We should be getting back to our allies and regrouping. We can only hope that Narvograd’s blockade holds against any enemy fleet that might try to attack the city.”

As the three of them went looking for Isabella and their other allies, Victor pointed out, “Hopefully, the enemy squads that were deployed to the other mountain passes were also repelled.”

Sugaru asked, “Those United Church soldiers I killed mentioned a place called Garblest? I assume that that cannot be far from here? Also, who is Isabella? Victor mentioned someone by that name before, she seems like someone close to you?”

Mara told her fiancé, “She is my head of intelligence. Much of what we have accomplished so far would not have been possible without her. She has a…strong dislike of the United Church. Last I saw her; she was engaging an enemy squad led by a pair of chaplains.”

Sugaru responded, “I see. I guess that she is both a spy and a warrior in that case.”

Victor added, “You could say that. She harbors an interesting combination of patience and bloodlust.”

Mara rolled her eyes a bit, even though she knew that Victor had a point. All around her she saw corpses, craters and the victorious rebels regrouping and slowly making their way back to the _Winslow Line_. Mara knew that once she, Victor and Sugaru reached the line, they would need to review how the battle had gone and plan the next move. For now, the Second Rebellion had won its first major victory. They had stopped the loyalist invasion of Bakaria and annihilated the majority of a force larger, and arguably more cohesive, than theirs. Whether or not the Loyalists regrouping in Garblest were going to be a threat in the near future, the main land route to Narvograd was safe for the time being.

As the trio trekked their way back towards the towers and mountains in the distance, Mara also expressed relief to herself that her betrothed had arrived to save her from certain death. She should have known that she could count on him to come to her aid, even in such extreme circumstances.

The trio managed to reach the _Winslow Line_ without incident. There, they saw Isabella talking with Sandra. Nearby them were Antonio Woodstock, Mia Buraig and Bradley Falchum. James Benson was checking out the damage to one of the towers, which had been struck by an enemy artillery shell. When Mara looked behind her, she saw Talia and Natalie approaching along with a number of their mercenary soldiers.

Mara approached Antonio and Isabella with Sugaru by her side as Victor went to check in with Talia and Natalie. The battle was over for the time being. However, the outcome of the war was still in question.


	19. Bakaria Secured

It was the evening after the battle for the _Winslow Line_ had been won. All around the rebel encampment, the victors of the grand engagement had been celebrating their victory over the Loyalist Army. With news of the loyalist defeat likely to spread quickly, the rebellion could only gain momentum in the near future. However, it remained to be seen what strategy the loyalist forces would employ next. They had failed to invade Bakaria by land. However, they still could attempt to seize Narvograd through a naval assault. Also, the United Church still held at least nominal control over most of Terranor. Would the rebels’ plan to capture Agharta proceed according to the plan Antonio Woodstock had explained earlier?

Some other good news that had come in recently as well. That being that the rebel forces defending the other mountain passed leading into Bakaria had managed to repel the loyalist incursion forces. The survivors of those battles had likely also retreated to the town of Garblest in northern Galatia. It seemed like the loyalists had chosen the town as their rendezvous point.

Mara Winslow was sitting on her bed in her personal tent located near the northern edge of the sprawling rebel camp set up just behind the _Winslow Line_. She was wearing a simply dark blue shirt and black pants. Sitting next to her on her bed was her fiancé, Sugaru Zaki. He was wearing a dark green shirt and brown pants.

As the young couple sat together, Sugaru sighed a bit and told Mara, “I know that it was made before we even met, but I still don’t like your arrangement with that Vladis woman. That your family would shelter the child of an undead monster is not something I would have expected. I know that your people and the Eulidians call them vampires. However, my people simply call them the cold ones. Cold to the touch, cold hearted, etcetera.”

Mara gave her fiancé a hurt look and replied, “She has served me, my family and my nation well. Yes, she can be a little… bloodthirsty at times, pardon the pun. Still, she was only a child when we took her in. The United Church would have slain her without a second thought, had they discovered her. She spent years training for battle mainly out of fear that they would find her one day. Honestly, the whole thing shows that the UCG and the Order of Light are not that different.”

Sugaru sighed angrily and then took a deep breath. He then took Mara’s hand and told her, “Bigotry is a dangerous thing, that much I know. It comes from fear of those unlike you. The Eulidians invaded Fadalia because they saw us as a savage false civilization. They believed that we were in need of their guidance. They were determined to provide that ‘guidance,’ even if it had to imposed by force of arms.”

Mara replied, “In the end, they were wrong. Their arrogance blinded them to the truth and we put a stop to their depredations. We need to remember not to fall into the same ideological traps that they did. Just trust me, Isabella will grow on you in time. She is someone I would trust to have my back in any fight. Like I said before, we would not be where we are now without her.”

Sugaru nodded and told Mara, “The Eulidians were a dangerous adversary, one that almost conquered my homeland. That much is true. However, it’s not like we have not made our own terrible mistakes. You know, one of my relatives far to the east of my home imprisoned and tortured his own daughter because she exhibited spirit calling powers. In the eyes of many traditional Fadalians, that magic is only for men. In the end, that Lord of the Zaki family was slain by a young Eulidian nobleman and officer named Charles Joland. He rescued his fallen foe’s daughter from her torment and kept her safe. The last I heard of her, she defected to Eulidia and moved to her rescuer’s manor to become the next Countess Joland.”

Mara shrugged her shoulder and replied, “No culture is perfect that much I won’t deny. …I will admit, it’s funny that when we get married I will have a distant relative living in Eulidia. Regardless, what matters to me now is that you are here and that we have repelled the loyalists for now. We will see the United Church overthrown and Bakaria and her neighbors will become independent!”

Sugaru put his arm around Mara and told her, “You really are so different from most Fadalia women. You are driven, determined and passionate. You don’t just sit back and let things happen if you can help it. Honestly, that’s why I fell in love with you soon after we first met. I never wanted a wife who would just sit back and do whatever I told her to do. I wanted someone like you…”

Mara smiled and jokingly interjected, “It almost sounds like you wanted someone to tell you what to do?” She then looked outside of the tent briefly and said, “It’s getting late. …Want to go outside and do some stargazing? I remember when we would do that on the beach nearby your family’s house. …That was always so romantic.”

Mara stood up and grabbed her fiancé’s hand. He followed her outside and mentioned, “What do I get the feeling that you want to do more than just stargaze?”

Mara giggled a bit as the pair made their way to a private-looking patch of tall grass at the edge of the camp. They had not been together for quite some time. They had a lot of catching up to do and not all of that would be talking.

A week passed after the successful defense of Bakaria. News of the rebel victory did indeed spread like wildfire. Now, the anti-United Church uprisings across Terranor were becoming rapidly emboldened. New flashpoints in the conflict were popping up left and right. The rebel camp behind the _Winslow Line _was receiving new recruits with greatly increased frequency now. Alana Kubrick, who had once been a soldier in the Terranoran Army came down from Narvograd to join the rebels at their camp. She wanted to help fight the United Church personally. Her friend Zara was still in Narvograd, where she was training to join the militia rear guard defending the Bakarian Capital.

The biggest and most important piece of news that the rebels had received that week was that the day after the last battle, a loyalist fleet had reached Narvograd’s port. The outgunned Bakarian Coast Guard and their allies had nearly been wiped out by the enemy warships. However, a fleet of rebel warships commanded by Commodore Christopher Hooper, an old friend of the Woodstock’s from the last war, had arrived. Commodore Hooper’s fleet had made a last-minute surprise attack on the loyalist task force from the south. Caught between Narvograd’s port-defense cannons and Commodore Hooper’s ships, the loyalist fleet had been sunk. Now, the rebel ships had been docked at Narvograd port and were preparing to set sail at Antonio Woodstock’s orders.

Now, Antonio and Sandra Woodstock, Mara Winslow, Sugaru Zaki, Talia Fujiwhara, Victor Nikolov and a number of other rebel officers were gathered in the command tent of the rebel encampment located just behind the _Winslow Line_. Antonio began, “Everyone, our campaign against the United Church has so far led to the defense of the north and the death of a High Priest. However, we are now on the cusp of another major breakthrough. My little ‘secret project’ has given us our next target.” 

Mara asked Antonio, “What have you been working on anyway? You are normally so honest about everything.”

Antonio gave one of his trademark grins and explained, “What I have been working on is communicating with Alfonso Vargas. You all may remember him as the artillery commander of the Cerberus Battalion. However, more importantly, he is their heir to the Vargas family of northern Ruvia. The Vargas family has controlled Vargas Technologies, the biggest manufacturing conglomerate in Terranor, ever since it was founded by Lorenzo Vargas in 1761. Alfonso has decided, after some extensive convincing by yours’ truly, to have his family’s company support our rebellion. He wants us to end the war quickly, seeing as though it is bad for business to have Terranorans fighting each other.”

Victor exclaimed, “Vargas Technologies has made most of the Terranoran Army’s weapons for over a century. Both sides in this war have been mostly using weapons with their logo stamped on them already. If we have gotten VT on our side, then we can make a severe cut into the United Church’s supply of war material.”

Sandra added, “We can also drastically increase our own supplies of war material with the help of Vargas Technologies. If we can seize the primary means of weaponry production, we can make it much harder for the UCG to keep fighting.”

Talia pointed out, “We just need to capture the factories that Vargas Technologies owns from the United Church’s loyalists. The company’s official support will not mean much if the enemy still controls the factories and can staff them with workers loyal to their cause.”

Antonio continued, “That brings me to our next target.” He then pointed to a spot on the map of Terranor that sat on the command tent’s briefing table. Mara saw that he was pointing to a spot nearby the Province of Galatia’s far western border. Antonio announced, “Right on the border that separates Galatia and Pretonia is the city of Heideldorf. Heideldorf is important to us because it is roughly in the path of the advance I want to make southwest to avoid Heaven’s Spire. However, the city is also home to a number of Vargas Technologies plants that make weapons, among other goods and equipment, for shipment all over the northern and central Terranor.”

Mara said, “In that case, we will need to try and avoid shelling the city too heavily. We will want to capture as many of the plants intact as possible. We will also want to invade quickly to avoid giving the enemy any time to sabotage the factories. Maybe we can even use the Northern Provinces railways to move troops and equipment close to Heideldorf for the attack. We will want to move fast. We still want to try and end the war before winter falls, just like we did in Eulidia.”

Antonio nodded enthusiastically. He then continued, “Alfonso has informed me of one more thing. Currently, he is making his way to Heideldorf with a small rebel escort. He has with him plans for a new model of long-range artillery mortars that were to be manufactured in one of Heideldorf’s factories. The heavy machinery factory that we will need to secure is located on the northern edge of the city. We will want to send in some of our fastest and most experience soldiers to secure that facility. If we can put these new heavy cannons into production, then we will be able to bombard loyalist targets from outside of their artillery’s firing range.”

Mara volunteered, “I am willing and able to lead the strike force that will secure the heavy machinery factory. Talia, I will want you, Natalie and a good portion of your forces with me. Your troops did a fine job silencing the enemy’s big guns during the last battle. Sugaru, Victor and Isabella will also come with me.”

Talia saluted Mara and replied, “Can do. Honesty, I am still sorry that the enemy got off that last barrage at the end. I know that you were nearly killed by one of those shells. They rallied around their last four guns and held them long enough to get off one last salvo to cover their allies’ retreat.”

Mara told Talia, “I already told you that I understand. You at least stopped the enemy gunners from firing off a second covering salvo. Thanks to Sugaru’s timely intervention, I am still here.”

Sugaru pointed out, “It will be interesting to fight alongside the War Tigers. I heard great things about your company from an acquaintance of mine in the Tatsumi family after the last war.”

Sandra then announced, “We will gather our forces as best as we can. We will try to advance on Heideldorf from multiple angles. The city does not have walls, so be should be able to advance inside with our infantry. We will endeavor to cooperate with any rebel sympathizers we can contact inside of the city. Our naval units will stay docked to protect Narvograd for now. They will sail south once we deem it necessary.”

As the various rebel officers were about to go and meet with their respective units, Mara said, “I will go and find Isabella. We will see if she has any agents either in Heideldorf or in the vicinity of the city. Having people loyal to us on the inside could be integral to our success in this battle.”

Mara left to find Isabella with Victor in tow. Sugaru was going to go with Talia to review her troops. He was interested in meeting with the War Tigers’ shamans. After that, everyone was to begin preparations for the advance on Heideldorf.


	20. Anxiety in the Capital

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The same day that the main rebel force in the north had decided their next target was the city of Heideldorf, Sapphire Cordwin Coril was standing in one of the main worship halls of the Prime Church is Agharta. Next to her stood Kylana, who was in her human form as usual. Not far away from the two High Priestess was a blonde-haired, light skinned, human loyalist army captain carrying an impressively-large two handed maul. A combat shotgun hung from his belt. The soldier was keeping watch dutifully. Despite the relative safety of the Prime Church, nothing seemed assured these days.

As she often was these days, Kylana seemed quite frustrated. The venerable High Priestess told Sapphire, “Alexander is still busy working on gathering up loyalist support for our war effort. He has been doing his best to keep morale high in the places he visits and help to put down rebel inspired uprisings and riots. Ernesto has returned to the capital and been given command over Heaven’s Spire. My hope is that he will keep this city safe in the likely event of an attempted rebel invasion.”

Sapphire replied, “You had me recalled from Playamar as soon as the news of Durkal’s failure and death in the north reached your ears. Sheila and Sasha came back with me. Those two wished we could have stayed longer, to be honest.”

Kylana pointed out, “You did a good job of shoring up support for our church on the eastern coast. That was your purpose there. In case the worst happens and our capital city falls to these insurrectionists, we will want to hold Playamar as a backup headquarters. It being a port city with access to the ocean occupied primarily by our supporters.”

Sapphire nodded and mentioned while gesturing towards the vigilant soldier standing nearby, “From what Captain Ewdrick has told me, you have focused significant inquisition resources into ensuring that our capital is as free of rebel sympathizers as possible.”

Kylana nodded proudly and replied, “We do not want our enemies to be able to sabotage Agharta from within. While this city has been secured against rebel saboteurs and agents for now, I fear that the rest of our Domain has not been so lucky.”

Sapphire’s face took on a more serious tone as she said, “We need a new strategy. We lost a significant portion of our armed forces in the failed battle for the _Winslow Line_. Our naval assault was also foiled by rebel forces. To add, much of our military is busy fighting uprisings, or preparing to defend their positons against possible future uprisings. At this point, I do not think we will be able to launch another offensive against Bakaria, the head of the traitorous snake, any time soon.”

Kylana nodded solemnly. She sighed deeply and said, “We have lost one member of our High Council, Durkal Stoneshield. According to reports from loyalist survivors, it was Antonio Woodstock who dealt the killing blow. Without Alexander here, I do not think we should attempt to approve a new appointment to fill Durkal’s seat for the time being. I have sent orders for our forces in Garblest to hold the town and not advance north again. We must focus on defending what holdings we have and hope that we can outlast the enemy. As long as Agharta holds, especially if winter falls by the time the rebels attempt to capture her, we stand a chance of making a successful comeback.”

Sapphire thought for a moment. She then sighed and told Kylana, “You won’t like me saying this, but I wish there was a way to sue for peace with the rebel forces. We would almost certainly have to allow the Northern Provinces to secede and possible accept a major reduction in the United Church’s authority. Still, that might be better than taking the risk of allowing this war to play out. The way it has been going, we stand a good chance of losing.”

Kylana did not respond with anger. Instead, she simply told Sapphire, “Think about the problem with what you just said. You have told me quite a bit about the man who leads the rebel military. Remember how upset he was when Eulidia surrendered before their government could be overthrown.”

Sapphire sighed and replied, “You are unfortunately right. As long as Antonio Woodstock leads the rebel military, he will not accept even a conditional surrender. That man is a fanatic for what he calls the cause of freedom. He used to see the United Church as the best way to create a free world. Now that he believes that the church is in the way of his goal, he will stop at nothing to see our faith destroyed. This time, there won’t be anyone outranking him to keep him in check. The only satisfying conclusion to this war for him will be the abolishment of our religion.”

Kylana’s fists flared up with purple fire. She sternly told Sapphire, “That is why we must persevere! We need to hold out for long enough that we can either rebuild out forces and counterattack, or force the war into a stalemate that the rebels will also want to end with a truce. Woodstock may be a fanatic and a hero to his supporters. However, if the war drags on for long enough and his momentum slows down, his followers’ desire for peace might overrule his lust for our destruction.”

Sapphire replied, “Maybe so. Rest assured that I have no intention of giving up on the church and its mission. However, even you must admit that the momentum is on the rebels’ side now. You are right that we need to stay on the defensive and focus on protecting areas where most of the population still supports us, at least nominally. Still, I fear that the rebels’ recent victory will only convince more who are ‘sitting on the fence’ right now to side with them. I am also starting to worry that Vargas Technologies’ leadership could be coming around to supporting the rebellion. Alfonso Vargas did serve in the Cerberus Battalion after all. It would be catastrophic for us if our main supplier of war material backed the rebels.”

Kylana just nodded, her hand still flaring up with purple flames. She told Sapphire, “I have a sermon to give soon that I must prepare for. You should head home and get some rest. Who knows when you might need to be deployed again. For the time being, I am not sure if I want to send any of our surviving council members to the front lines. I do not want to risk giving the enemy another morale-boosting victory over one of us.”

Sapphire nodded and saluted Kylana, as she was turning to leave, she said, “I still wonder if I should have gone with Durkal and his invasion force. …Regardless, it is too late to ponder what could have happened. We need to focus on where we are now.”

Kylana simply nodded and then headed off to a nearby private meditation room. Sapphire then walked over to Captain Eric Ewdrick, the soldier who had been keeping watch over the High Priestesses conversation. Eric saluted Sapphire and asked her, “Going home ma’am?”

Sapphire replied, “Yes, Captain. Please follow me to the carriage.”

Eric did as he was told. As they were walking out of the worship hall, Sapphire asked him, “I assume that your wife is still expecting?”

Eric smiled and responded, “Yes, ma’am. I was hoping that if it’s a boy, we can name him Stanley, after High Priest Berkman’s father. Our friends the Carltons, the bakers who live across the street from us, are expecting a child as well.”

Sapphire smiled back at Eric and asked him, “In all seriousness, do you think that we can have peace while Antonio Woodstock lives? I remember that the unit you commanded was the Cerberus Battalion’s main rival during the last war.”

Eric chuckled very briefly and said, “My squads and his did compete for confirmed kills and important assignments. Still, they normally beat us out on both of those fronts. Despite that I was always good friends with Wilhelm Creek, one of the Cerberus Battalion’s chaplains. I think he got assigned to Heaven’s Spire recently. …To your point, ma’am, I think that the former Knight Captain will not allow our church to continue to exist if he can help it. He likely feels deeply betrayed. A man like him does not value the lives of anyone he sees as his enemies and as the enemies of his chosen cause. Still, if we somehow managed to kill him, he would only become a martyr to his followers….”

Sapphire replied, “All good observations. You and I seem to have similar opinions regarding Mr. Woodstock. Mara Winslow is a dangerous and ruthless adversary. However, she is not a warmonger. At least publically, she always wanted to avoid looking like she wanted armed conflict to erupt. Antonio Woodstock practically lives for conflict. He will only be appeased by our total destruction. However, other rebels might be more amenable to a fairer resolution to this whole mess.”

As Eric and Sapphire neared the High Priestess’s carriage, Eric finished, “I am just hoping that the United Church comes out of this conflict intact in some form. I am hoping that my child will one day become a priest or priestess, like your daughter did.”

Sapphire nodded as she got into her carriage. She then told Eric, “Give your wife my regards when you get home.”

The carriage then took off down the road, beginning its journey back to the Coril family’s house. Eric saluted the departing carriage as it left. He then began to walk back to the Prime Church.

The carriage returned Sapphire to her family’s home. Once there, she changed into a casual blue dress. As someone used to physical combat, she never did like bulky robes. Armor, she was used to. Robes, not so much.

As Sapphire was looking through some books in the house’s small library, she remembered that Sasha had left a couple of arcane textbooks behind after an earlier visit. Sapphire made a mental note to return the books to her younger sister when the opportunity presented itself. Sasha had returned to teaching at the Academy of Magic since returning to Agharta from Playamar. However, she was well aware that she could be drafted into action at a moment’s notice if the need arose.

Sapphire thought back to when she had first told Sasha and her husband Phineas the church’s secret. The two of them had loyally kept the secret for over a century. Sasha had even, semi-reluctantly, learned a rare memory-altering spell to help keep the truth under wraps.

Sapphire’s mind then traced events even farther back. She remembered being the first one among the recipients of the blessing of the purple flame to tell the “big lie.” She was the one who had claimed to the Rebel Summit held at Cavernhold that the Amalgamate was the actual creator of Austean. To some extent, Sapphire had always known that the truth would come out some day. What she had not expected was how it would come out, or the devastating impact that the revelation of truth would have on Terranor. Even if the United Church survived the war, the revelation of their secret would certainly have a tremendous negative impact on any future missionary expeditions they sent out. Not to mention the drastic loss of respect and prestige that the United Church had also suffered at home.

As Sapphire sat down with one of her military history books, she thought, “Winslow may have started this war. Yet, Woodstock is the one who will finish it if we are not careful. If I encounter him, I will not hesitate to bring my full divine power and training to bear against him. Even if it makes him a martyr, I will end him to save the church. I should have known we could never trust someone like him.”

Sapphire did her best to try to forget about her former subordinate and current nemesis. She focused on her reading for the next couple of hours. After that, she heard the house’s front door opening. She headed over to greet her husband, who had just returned from work at his family’s shipping company’s head office. Even during a time of war and unrest, Sapphire knew that it was important to spend time with those who she was closest to.


	21. The Battle of Heideldorf

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Two weeks passed after the rebels made their plan to move against the city of Heideldorf in Western Galatia. The armies of the Second Rebellion left a few small rear guard forces in the Northern Provinces. Their main forces began to make their way south by whatever means they could. Overwhelming any and all loyalist units who stood in their way, the rebel columns converged on Heideldorf and made preparations to seize the city and its strategically important factories.

Mara had been pleasantly surprised when news arrived from Narvograd that reinforcements had arrived at the city’s port. It seemed that Sugaru had inadvertently convinced his family, The House Zaki back in Fadalia, to support the rebellion. Ships carrying Fadalian volunteers wanting to repay Antonio Woodstock for his efforts in helping preserve their nation’s sovereignty were starting to show up at Narvograd’s docks. Along with the humanoid reinforcements were a small number of Fadalian fire breathers. Elegant yet mighty dragons with glistening scales resembling shimmering gold.

Talia’s agents had also been looking for new mercenary recruits for the War Tigers in both Tosada Island and Fadalia. They intended to replace the few among their company who had fallen in battle. They also wanted to swell their ranks with new soldiers to help finish carrying out their contract with the House Winslow. 

When the various rebel units met up not far from the outskirts of Heideldorf, Antonio Woodstock called a strategy meeting. Mara was present, as were Sandra, Isabella, Victor, Talia, Natalie, Sugaru, a number of former Cerberus Battalion soldiers and other rebel officers. The meeting was held in the open around a portable wooden table. A map of Heideldorf and the city’s vicinity had been placed atop the table.

Antonio began the meeting by saying, “Our numbers continue to swell. Reinforcements continue to arrive. The Domain’s army seems afraid to engage us in an offensive battle. They have begun to focus on defending as many key positons as they can. They obviously want to stall us until winter falls. They seem to believe that if they can keep Agharta secure until then, it will slow us down enough that they can rebuild their military and possibly even counterattack us effectively. We must keep up our momentum!”

Mara asked, “I know what my squad’s objective for this mission is. Still, what is your plan to capture Heideldorf proper? The city is not walled, which should make it easier for our troops to get inside. Are there any known enemy units based in Heideldorf that we should be aware of?”

Isabella then stepped forward with Antonio’s permission. She pointed to a spot on the rebel’s map of the city and explained, “The heavy machinery factory on the northern outskirts is where Lady Mara is to lead her strike team. We want to capture every factory we can as intact as possible.” She then pointed to a couple of spots close to the city center and explained, “The biggest problem we will face is that there are a pair of prototype military airships stationed in Heideldorf. Both airships are under enemy control and can be rapidly deployed to rain down fire on any invasion force.”

Antonio took over from Isabella and explained, “Remember when I said that Alfonso Vargas was on the way to Heideldorf? You see, he and his rebel comrades have taken command of a third prototype airship. Their airship is nearing Heideldorf from the south as we speak. We plan to have our new dragon reinforcements from Fadalia use their fiery breath on the enemy airships as our ground troops advance on the city. Our infantry will try to lure the airships away from Heideldorf so that when they hopefully get shot down they won’t land on civilian buildings, or the city’s factories. Our own airship will be providing support fire against both the enemy aircraft and hostile ground forces.”

Mara nodded and said, “I will be taking Talia, Natalie, and good portion of their forces with me. Sugaru, Isabella and Victor will also be following me. We will attempt to capture and hold the heavy machinery factory quickly while the main force captures the city hall and the other factories after dealing with the enemy airships.”

Antonio nodded in agreement with Mara. Sandra and Talia then gave out more specific orders for the other rebel units. Different squads were assigned to capture different factories and other strategic targets within the city.

Fortunately, the rebel forces had been able to conceal the fact that Heideldorf was their target from the loyalists for quite some time. Only recently, with the rebel army nearing the city, had the loyalists in the area realized what was going on. The rebels had also smartly picked a day when most of the factory workers would be off work for their assault. They hoped to minimize civilian casualties.

It was not long until Mara led her strike force north of the rebel encampment. There were roughly twenty-five soldiers in total making up the team. Most of them were War Tiger skirmishers led by Talia and Natalie. Mara had learned that Talia wore her stealth armor, minus the mask, into battle. Natalie, on the other hand, preferred a more protective enchanted chainmail shirt for open battles. Sugaru was now wearing a lightly-armored Bakarian militia uniform in combat. Most of the other Fadalian volunteer soldiers had also donned Bakarian-style armor and uniforms. So had most of the Terranoran soldiers fighting in the rebel armies.

Mara led her strike force quickly over the plains leading to the imposing factory on the northern outskirts of Heideldorf. In the distance to the south she could glimpse a large military airship rapidly approaching the industrial city. She knew that Alfonso Vargas was likely captaining the massive craft.

As the main rebel force continued to close in on Heideldorf’s eastern outskirts, the two loyalist airships menacingly rose above the city. The three dragons in the rebel force were all in their humanoid forms for the time being. The trio of disguised dragons feel to their knees while glowing brightly, changing from their humanoid forms into their dragon forms. They then flew up from the rebel formation and began to attack the pair of airships. Cannon fire from the third airship, which was now above Heideldorf, began to impact the sides of the loyalist aircraft.

The loyalist airships were now flying just outside of Heideldorf’s airspace, as Antonio had hoped. The two aircraft had begun to bombard the main rebel force. However, their gunners were starting to get distracted by the trio of dragons circling them and scorching them with torrents of fire.

Antonio’s forces held their ground as loyalist troops began to advance out of the city to meet them in battle away from the civilian populace. As gunfire and spells were exchanged between the two forces, Mara kept herself focused on her mission. They needed to capture the heavy machinery factory intact so that the rebels could put Alfonso Vargas’ new artillery design into production.

Suddenly, Mara and her allies heard a loud booming noise from above them. They saw that one of the loyalist airships had been struck in a vulnerable spot near its tail fins by cannon fire from the rebel airship. The airborne behemoth was now starting to collapse in a blazing inferno and fall out of the sky. Soldiers on the ground from both sides did their best to avoid the falling debris regardless of the enemy fire shooting past them.

The second loyalist airship seemed to be taking heavy damage from the dragons circling it. The rebels on the ground advanced with greater vigor as the remains of the destroyed loyalist airship began to crash to the ground.

Mara’s strike force continued their rapid advance towards their target. As they began to close in on the factory, they noticed a small unit of loyalist infantry was making its way towards them. As that was happening, the second enemy airship began to fall out of the sky, having sustained critical damage from the combined firepower of the dragons and the rebel airship.

Suddenly, Mara heard a noise she had begun to dread since her experience during the defense of the _Winslow Line_. It was the sound of a heavy artillery piece going off. A hostile shell streaked through the sky and impacted the ground not far from the, now charging, rebel strike force. Thankfully, Mara and Talia’s soldiers had been outside of the blast radius. Mara could now see the vague outline of an enemy heavy cannon with its barrel pointed up into the sky not far from the factory proper. Terrifyingly enough, the loyalist gunners seemed to be aiming the cannon directly at the charging rebels now.

Talia saw what was going on and shouted, “Natalie! You know what to do!”

Natalie, who had her pair of short swords and heavy revolvers at her belt, dropped to one knee and took aim with a scoped sniper rifle that she had been carrying strapped to her back. Two other female War Tigers, one feloid and one human, each did the same. The three snipers took aim at the heavy cannon. Three shots rapidly rang out.

Mara rapidly drew her binoculars and examined the enemy’s artillery position. She saw two of the three loyalist gunners dropping from high-velocity rounds to the chest. The surviving third gunner looked like he was loading a shell into the gun. Suddenly, the whole artillery position detonated in a spontaneous torrent of fire and shrapnel.

Mara wondered how that had happened. However, she was relieved that the enemy cannon was destroyed. She then heard Natalie calling out, “I guess shooting that shell caused a chain reaction? That’s good to know.”

As Natalie and the two other snipers put their rifles away and rejoined the charging strike force, Talia, who was easily keeping pace with Mara at the lead, called back, “Good job, Nat!” Talia then readied her bolt-action rifle as Mara readied her shotgun.

The rebel and loyalist forces soon met just outside the outskirts of the factory compound. A squad of dwarven soldiers with heavy shields and axes covered a number of human and deep elf riflemen and women. Sugaru stretched out his hand and, as bullets began to fly from both sides, sent out four blood red twisting enemy beams. The magical rays flew over the heads of the dwarven troops and crashed into four members of the loyalist backline.

Victor conjured a shield of force around himself, as Mara and Talia led their soldiers forward to engage the dwarves. Isabella readied her rifle and began to focus on taking down enemy chaplains. Natalie whipped out her twin revolvers and began taking surprisingly accurate shots at the dwarves. Two of the heavy soldiers fell to headshots from her, leaving a hole in the enemy formation.

Mara rushed a trio of dwarven soldiers. As they advanced on her with axes drawn, she fired a buckshot blast from her shotgun and took the legs out from under two of them.

Talia nailed the third dwarf with a headshot from her rifle. She then put away her firearm and rapidly drew her tiger claws. She viciously pounced on the two wounded dwarves Mara had attacked, slicing them to ribbons.

Mara soon spotted two loyalist riflemen taking aim at Talia. She pumped her shotgun as she saw them open fire. One shot missed Talia, the other bounced off of her magically-reinforced armor. As the enemies readied second shots, Mara charged forward and blasted them both with a second spread of buckshot. Both enemies died from the blast of high-velocity pellets.

Talia flanked around the remaining enemy dwarves as the two frontlines began to clash. She impaled two of them in the back with her tiger claws, killing both of them. Mara saw an enemy hobgoblin arcanist now far from her flinging small spheres of fire at her rebel troops. Without thinking, she drew her rapier and lunged at the foe. She impaled him in the gut before he could conjure up any magical defenses. As Mara allowed her enemy to slide off of blade, she was reminded of the first loyalist she had slain. That had been the Inquisition deep elf Sergeant who had been keeping Alana Kubrick captive.

Suddenly, Mara saw an enemy chaplain charging her. The deep elf woman’s longsword was sheathed in purple flames. A gunshot rang out and the chaplain feel to her knees. Mara saw that Isabella had gotten around, the rapidly disintegrating, loyalist frontline and shot the enemy priestess with her rifle.

As the enemy chaplain recovered from the shock of her injury and began to summon up a pulse of purple fire to try and heal herself, Isabella readied and then fired a second shot. The bullet struck the woman between the eyes. She collapsed into an undignified heap, dead.

Isabella smiled confidently, as Mara saw the other loyalist soldiers starting to retreat back towards the factory. Mara could only think, as her eyes rested on the corpse of the deep elf priestess, “This war is a plague. I might have started it, but I will finish it as quickly as I can. Terranor will see peace and Bakaria will be free. I will not let all of this death and destruction be in vain!”

The rebel forces rapidly regrouped. Sugaru had been focused on healing injured friendlies after his initial magical barrage. Thanks to him, and the War Tiger shaman that was with the strike force, the rebels had minimized their casualties in the last engagement. Victor had lent his own magical support by blasting away at the enemy troops hiding behind the dwarven shield bearers. 

Mara and Talia continued to lead their soldiers forward towards the factory. Their troops took potshots at the fleeing loyalists as they advanced on their destination.

As the loyalist squad’s survivors made their way to a series of large supply crates littering the outskirts of the factory grounds, Mara looked south and saw that the main rebel force had managed to force its way into Heideldorf. The rebel airship was now providing covering fire for its allies on the ground. Mara just hoped that the main force could take the city with minimal property damage and civilian casualties. They would want any workers they could trust available to staff the factories once they were under rebel control.

With Talia taking the lead, the rebel strike force made its way onto the factory grounds. They noticed the burning husk of the heavy cannon that Natalie had destroyed. Now that they had nearly reached the factory, the rebels’ objective was to clear out any remaining loyalist forces and make sure that the building was secure. Mara kept her shotgun ready as the rebels advanced into the field of crates. They would have to clear out any enemies hiding in or behind the crates before entering into the factory proper.


	22. Taking the Factory

Mara and Talia were leading their force of rebel and War Tiger soldiers through a field of large supply crates. The strike force, which had been rapidly advancing before, was now moving forward with caution. The rebels had seen the few survivors of the loyalist squad that had engaged them on their way to the factory running for cover behind some of the crates.

Talia ordered, “Stay cautious and be careful when turning corners. We don’t want them to be able to pick us off using ambush tactics.”

Mara nodded in agreement and held her shotgun ready to fire. As she aimed down the weapon’s basic sights, she kept her eyes and ears open and ready for any sign of loyalist troops readying an ambush.

The rebel force decided to stick together for the time being and continue to push through the crates on their way to the factory gates. Their objective was to capture the factory and make sure that it was not damaged beyond easy repair in the process.

Suddenly, Isabella called out, “Enemies in the windows! Second floor!”

Mara looked up and saw that some of the factory’s second floor windows had been opened and loyalist riflemen and women were taking aim at the rebel strike force.

Mara also saw a pair of loyalist light infantry soldiers charging out from behind a large supply crate. She fired a spread of shot and downed the two of them rapidly. However, more enemies began to emerge from behind other crates. The loyalist trap had been sprung.

Talia impaled a loyalist dwarf, who had charged at her with his warhammer, using her tiger claws. The armored enemy’s dying body absorbed a couple of rifle rounds that had been meant for Talia. She ordered, “Nat, have our snipers take out the enemies in the windows! Everyone else, protect our spellcasters and take out the ambushers!”

Mara took cover behind a stack of steel beams and drew her revolver from its holster. She then saw a loyalist trooper carrying a greatsword charging her from the side. However, a searing blast of fire from Victor dropped the enemy before he could reach Mara.

As the rebels and their ambushers began to engage in melee combat, Isabella drew her two swords and excitedly lunged at the nearest opponent. An enemy’s longsword sliced into Isabella’s abdomen. However, the blow barely seemed to daunt the half-vampire woman. As her confused attacker staggered back, she impaled him with one sword and then sliced into another enemy with her second.

Mara took careful aim at the enemy soldiers opening fire from the second-floor windows. Thankfully, she was well trained in the use of her sidearm. The heavier model of revolver produced by Vargas Technologies was surprisingly accurate at long range and packed a mighty punch with each shot. Mara fired a single bullet at one of the enemy snipers. The shot nailed the woman in the head. Her lifeless body fell from the window. Mara then looked for another target as two bullets bounced off of her reinforced cover. 

Natalie and three of her allies all got down on one knee and took aim at the loyalists on the second floor with their sniper rifles. The salvo of long-range gunfire dropped three more hostiles in rapid secession.

Mara saw Sugaru focusing on healing injured rebels as Talia hacked and slashed into members of the loyalist ambush team. An enemy bullet narrowly missed Natalie as she readied a second shot. Mara aimed her revolver at another enemy sniper. The Winslow Heiress dropped her enemy with two rapid shots before she could fire her sniper rifle again.

Victor sent out a wave of fire from his hands that roasted a pair of loyalist soldiers, allowing Talia to charge and dispatch a deep elf arcanist that had been hiding behind them. Natalie and her sniper squad finished off the remaining loyalist snipers and then readied their close-range weapons.

The six or so survivors of the loyalist ambush squad then took off in various directions. They were not retreating back to the factory, strangely enough.

Talia told Natalie, “I want you to take six of our skirmishers and chase down the stragglers. We will advance into the factory and claim it.”

Natalie saluted Talia and quickly split up small her force into two teams to chase down the fleeing enemies.

Mara declared, “We are almost to our objective. This place was relatively well-defended, however. I am worried that the enemy has realized the strategic value of this factory. Otherwise, why would they have committed so many troops to defending it?”

Victor added, “You have a point, My Lady. Why would they have redirected so many soldiers that could have been helping defend the city proper to this factory unless they knew how important it could be to us?”

Isabella finished, “After their defeat at the _Winslow Line_, the enemy’s forces have been spread thin as it is. Come to think if it, one of my agents did report that this factory was being considered by Vargas Technologies to be used in the manufacturing of a new type of experimental land vehicle. She called it an engine-powered horseless carriage, or ‘automobile.’ However, that project is still too early in development for the loyalists to consider it strategically important.”

Talia mentioned, “We are closing in on the main gate. I see no hostiles in the area as of now. We should still be cautious.”

As the roughly fifteen-person rebel strike force approached the front gate of the heavy machinery factory, Victor sent out a wave of pure concussive force from his hand. The pulse sent the front doors of the factory flying open.

Four loyalist infantry soldiers rushed out of the front gate. However, they were rapidly dispatched by Sugaru’s energy beams and gunfire from the other rebels.

As the rebel unit advanced inside the factory, Mara ordered, “Talia, take your troops and sweep the upper floors. I trust you to mop up any loyalists still up there. I will take everyone else and sweep this floor.”

Talia rapidly saluted Mara. She quickly rallied her eight soldiers and advanced up the nearest staircase afterwards. Mara looked around the factory floor, seeing no enemies for the time being. With her were Sugaru, Victor, Isabella and two rebel skirmishers.

Isabella mentioned, “It looks like they evacuated the civilians from this factory when they saw us coming, assuming there were any workers here today anyway.”

Mara told Victor, “I will take Isabella and Sugaru and head for the center of the factory floor. You should take the other two and see if you can carefully ferret out any enemies who still might be hiding around here.”

Victor saluted Mara and told the two skirmishers to follow him. Mara then led Isabella and Sugaru towards the center of the factory floor.

As the trio closed in on the center of the factory floor with their weapons drawn, Mara heard the sound of combat coming from upstairs. Based on the results she had seen earlier, she trusted Talia and her soldiers to eliminate any loyalists still guarding the upper floors of the factory.

Suddenly, a flash of purple fire erupted in front of the trio. Mara noticed what looked like a staircase going downwards not far from the center of the factory floor. Charging out from the staircase was a dwarven man clad in heavy loyalist armor and carrying a massive heavy maul. The fast-approaching dwarf was sheathed in purple flames. His uniform bore a golden shield-shaped patch with a white unicorn depicted on it. That was the symbol of the Holy Order of Knights, the elite religious warriors of the UCG that Antonio Woodstock had once commanded.

The dwarven knight careened towards Mara and raised up his weapon, screaming a terrifying battle cry. Isabella threw herself in front of Mara and took the mighty blow from the burning maul. The two-handed warhammer struck her in the side at full force.

Isabella was launched back. Her side was smoldering with energy.

Mara screamed at Sugaru, “Heal her!” She then fired a blast of shot right into the knight standing right in front of her. However, his enchanted heavy armor seemed to mostly blunt the spread’s impact.

As Sugaru semi-reluctantly ran over to Isabella, a pair of UCG shotgunners emerged from the staircase and took aim with their weapons. One of the shotgunners suddenly took a bullet to the head and collapsed. Mara saw that Victor and his two skirmishers were rapidly advancing on the center of the factory.

The second skirmisher missed with her rifle and then took a solid slug to the stomach from the surviving enemy shotgunner. As his ally dropped to the ground, dead, Victor summoned up a barrage of force fireworks. He avenged his comrade by pummeling the enemy shotgunner to death with them.

Mara saw the enemy knight raising up his maul to strike her. She rapidly evaded a pair of swings. She quickly drew her rapier and impaled her foe’s stomach on it as he recovered from his second swing.

The dwarven knight laughed as not even Mara’s icy blade could not slay him. However, he took a bullet to the leg from a, now healed Isabella.

As the dwarven knight fell to one knee, Victor conjured a massive sphere of fire and threw it at him. Mara withdrew her rapier and then back flipped back away from the dwarf soldier. The dwarf looked over at the ball of energy fast approaching him, but had no time to evade it and was consumed by the roaring fire. Finally defeated, his flaming body fell on its face and did not get back up.

Sugaru looked over to the fallen rebel and said, “I am sorry that I could not get to that skirmisher.”

Victor sighed and responded, “At least you saved Isabella in time. I will take the other soldier and sweep the rest of this floor. Maybe the three of you should check out whatever is at the bottom of that staircase?”

Mara replied, “The fighting upstairs seems to have ended, based on what I can hear. Hopefully, Talia’s unit will come down here to help you two finish your sweep soon. Sugaru, Isabella, follow me downstairs.” Mara then looked over to Isabella and told her, “Thanks for the save. I’m honestly not sure if I could have gotten out of the way of that first swing.”

Isabella simply replied, “Don’t mention it. Now, let’s finish this mission. Hopefully, our main force is driving the enemy out of the city as we speak.”

Mara then led Sugaru and Isabella down the staircase. They found a slightly open door at the bottom. A sign on top of the door read, “Main Boiler Room.”

Sugaru mentioned, “Do you two feel the heat coming from that room? It seems like they have the boiler going?”

Mara added, “Yet, the other machinery was inactive… We better check it out!”

Mara burst into the room followed by Sugaru and Isabella. All three of them had their firearms drawn. They saw a dark-skinned human man wearing a lightly-armored loyalist uniform with utility pouches covering it charging them with a wrench in his hand. Mara recognized him as a member of the Terranoran Army Engineering Corps thanks to his uniform’s design. As he was about to swing his weapon at Mara, Sugaru gunned him down with three bullets from his light revolver.

As the loyalist engineer collapsed to the floor, dead, Mara saw Isabella taking aim with her rifle at another target. This foe was a light-skinned young human woman. She was wearing an engineering corps uniform as well. The woman was running up to a plunger that Mara suddenly realized was wired to some dynamite positioned right next to the active boiler.

As Mara took aim at the enemy engineer, she realized to her horror that the loyalists had been planning to destroy the factory from within if they could not defend it successfully. The boiler’s explosion could take out most of the factory’s foundation and collapse the whole building. Maybe the enemy engineers had been hoping to escape with the plunger if they had had the time. However, now they were out of time.

Isabella shouted, “Kill her! She is trying to kill us all!” She then fired a bullet into the enemy’s stomach. However, the hostile engineer clung to life and shouted, “For the glory of god!”

As the loyalist engineer was about to detonate the boiler, Mara shot her right between the eyes with a solid slug from her shotgun. The foe’s body was sent flying backwards. Her corpse fell against the side of the boiler with a clanging noise. The dynamite remained thankfully undetonated.

Mara lowered her shotgun and took a deep breath. She then ordered, “Cut the cables. We need to remove the dynamite quickly just to be safe. After that, we will meet up with Talia and Natalie’s units.”

Sugaru breathed a huge sigh of relief and told Mara, “Good shot, darling. You just saved us all, including our forces upstairs.”

As Isabella advanced forward to carry out her lady’s orders, she added, “I’m just sorry that I could not kill her with my rifle. Even I miss getting one-shot-kills sometimes.”

Still disturbed by the fanaticism displayed by her foes, Mara replied, “That will be a story to tell…. Regardless, we should regroup and prepare to hold this building if need be. We cannot allow the loyalists to reclaim this factory!”

It was not long until the entire rebel strike force reassembled on the first floor of the factory. The rebels made sure to shut down the main boiler just to be safe. They carefully cleared out the dynamite that they had found, putting it inside of some metal lockers. Then, the rebels and mercenaries took up defensive positions around the factory.

Thankfully, no enemy counterattack came that day. That late evening, the loyalist army abandoned Heideldorf. The loyalist survivors of the battle scattered into Pretonia, retreating under the cover of darkness. Antonio Woodstock sent out orders for rebel units to sweep the city for UCG sympathizers to arrest or drive off once the loyalists had officially retreated. Alfonso Vargas’s airship landed in one of the city’s hangars soon after victory was declared. He began the business of taking command of the city’s factories the next day.

Workers loyal to the rebellion, or at least willing to work for the rebels, were recruited to staff the factories. They were to rush war material, including the new long-range cannons, into production for the rebellion. Work was also to be done on repairing the rebel’s new airship and plans were made to manufacture more airships to support the rebel war effort. The task ahead of the Second Rebellion now was to rapidly sweep south through Western Terranor. They would need to position their forces to capture Agharta before Winter snow could start falling on the battlefields. For the moment, they still had time and momentum on their side.


	23. The Advance South

The next two months were busy ones for the Second Rebellion and difficult ones for the loyalists supporting the United Church of God. By the time that summer was coming to a close and autumn was descending on Terranor, the rebels has pushed far deeper into loyalist territory.

Following the loyalist retreat from Heideldorf, the rebels had consolidated their position there and begun mass production of war material for their armies in the city’s factories. The rebels’ navy had begun to sail south from Narvograd. Their eventual primary target was to be Playamar Port. However, they had quite a few loyalist units to deal way on their way south. The rebel forces stationed in Heideldorf and the Northern Provinces also quickly set about establishing supply lines and rear guard units to make a rapid advance south possible.

From Heideldorf, the rebel army advanced a small force into the West Coast Province of Pretonia and seized control of her within weeks. With Pretonia secured, Heideldorf was now safe from any immediate loyalist counterattacks. Antonio Woodstock then led the main rebel army in a series of rapid offensives, aided by local sympathizers. They managed to penetrate deep into Western Terranor from the north. The powerful druids of the far-western valleys and plains formally agreed to support the rebels indirectly. They did so by refusing to shelter United Church loyalists and by allowing rebel forces passage through their territory.

Much of Western Terranor was brought under rebel control without the rebels having to expend significant resources, or take heavy casualties. While their rear guards began to slowly advance south into Galatia and the provinces directly to the south of her, the main rebel army blitzed south. They successfully seized town after town, city after city, province after province.

The loyalists’ strategy seemed focused on protecting Agharta and her surroundings with what forces they had left. The defection of Vargas Technologies had helped increase rebel sympathy in Ruvia and the provinces directly north of that region. It was clear to the rebels that eventually they would come up against significant loyalist defenses. However, so far they had managed to circle around both Heaven’s Spire and Cavernhold, the two main fortresses that could have proven major roadblocks to capturing Agharta.

By early fall, the rebel army had set up a major base of operations in the city of Fabasu on the very edge of Western Terranor. Fabasu stood directly to the west of Agharta. A railroad connected the city with the continental capital. However, the farming town of Plaincrest, which was only about a day from Agharta by foot, stood in the rebels’ way. Ever since they had realized that the rebels were circling around Heaven’s Spire, the Loyalist Army had begun to transfer troops from the towering fortress to a camp they were building in and around Plaincrest. The loyalists had clearly been shocked by how fast the emboldened rebels had closed in on the capital. They had decided to use the Plaincrest Camp as their primary barrier between the main rebel army and the capital city.

The main rebel army had been continuing to maintain and protect their supply lines as they had traveled south. The Vargas Technologies factories in Heideldorf had been producing artillery pieces, infantry weapons and armored uniforms for the rebels since their seizure. Alfonso Vargas had remained in Heideldorf to oversee the production and shipping of weapons to the main army. He expressly hoped that his old Captain would bring a swift end to the war. It was the main thing that he asked in exchange for him coordinating the production and delivery of war material to the rebel forces.

Now, the forces of the Second Rebellion in the west were concentrating their strength in Fabasu. With new shipments of the newly-developed Vargas Technologies Long-Range Mortar Cannons due to arrive shortly, a showdown with the loyalists in Agharta seemed imminent.

The day that the shipment of long range mortar cannons had arrived in Fabasu via train, Antonio Woodstock called a meeting of rebel officers. Mara Winslow and Victor Nikolov were on their way to the meeting, walking down the main street of Fabasu towards the city hall. The locals had graciously allowed the rebel commanders to use their largest conference room as a briefing room.

As Mara and Victor walked over to the city hall, a beautiful, yet imposing, building, covered in dark-brown wood paneling, Mara looked up and saw a pair of rebel military airships casting shadows over the city. The airships were on watch for any possible loyalist attacks. There was always the possibility that the United Church would attempt a preemptive strike on the rebel-held city.

Thankfully, the local government had effectively welcomed the Second Rebellion’s troops into the city with open arms. Most of the populace had been won over by Antonio Woodstock’s liberation-based appeals and promises to punish the United Church for its hypocrisy and dishonesty. The rebels had received similar welcomes from local citizens in other cities and some towns across Terranor. Many civilians saw the rebels as liberators and heroes. The Loyalist Army tended to flee those municipalities soon after the rebel forces showed up. In many cases, there had been no loyalist military presence left in settlements the rebels had arrived to “liberate.”

As Mara and Victor were closing in on the city hall, Mara mentioned to Victor, “I have seen you hanging out with Captain Fujiwhara quite often lately. You seem far more comfortable around her than I would have expected, considering your initial reactions.”

Victor looked a tad awkward. However, it passed quickly. He explained to Mara, “Like I told you before, the two of us have similar backgrounds. We have fought with our families over their expectations of us and broken away from them. For Talia, it was her family training her to become to a cold and brutal killing machine. For me it was my family refusing to tolerate my sexual preferences.”

Mara mentioned, “Come to think of it, I have occasionally seen Talia looking like she’s causally checking Isabella out. Do you think she ‘swings both ways’ like you do?”

Victor responded, “Yeah, she does. That’s just another thing we have in common. I know that we still have our differences, I fight for my nation and its leadership, she fights for money and to hone her professional reputation. With all that said, I still find her quite compelling and attractive…despite us coming from different species.”

Mara added, “There is also the fact that she stands at least a head taller than you. She and Isabella are both tall by the standards of any humanoid species. Maybe expect for mountainfolk? Still, stranger things have happened. I remember meeting a Fadalian shaman during the last war who was half human and half Fadalian fire breather. At least you and Talia have similar lifespans compared to say humans versus elves.”

Victor nodded. Then, pointing to his ears, he added, “And human-elf relationships have worked out. My ancestors would be a good example. Regardless of my relationship status, we should be getting to the meeting. Sugaru and Isabella should already be there.”

Mara nodded as the two of them entered the Fabasu City Hall. The pair soon made their way upstairs to the commandeered conference room where the briefing was to be held.

When Mara and Victor entered the conference room, which was paneled in dark brown wood with bronze trim on the furnishings, they saw that Isabela and Sugaru had already beaten them there. Antonio Woodstock was looking over a map of the region that had been marked with pins and miniatures indicating the positions of the loyalist and rebel armies. Standing next to him was his wife Sandra. Bradley Falchum, Mia Buraig, James Benson and other rebel officers were also present.

Antonio smiled when he saw Mara and Victor entering the briefing room. He began, as soon as Victor closed the door, “I have some good news for all of you. Our airships recently returned from their bombing run against the train tracks leading from Heaven’s Spire to Agharta. The damage should be heavy enough that it will take them significant time and resources to repair it.”

Sandra added, “The bad news is that our scouts have reported that an enemy armored train was already dispatched from Heaven’s Spire to Plaincrest before our airships could bomb the tracks. The train is equipped with two mortar cannons that can both potentially hit and heavily damage our airships. It is also equipped with various other weapons and can carry squads of infantry into battle.”

Antonio continued, “That armored train is arguably the biggest problem we will have to face on the way to capturing the Plaincrest Camp. We need to move on the town as soon as we can so that we get a clear shot to Agharta. The armored train cannot only shoot down our airships, it can take out our long-range artillery and could even serve as the spearhead of a possible loyalist offensive made against this city.”

James then pointed to a spot on the map and said, “Normally, a train’s weakness is its tracks. Unfortunately, our airships cannot afford to risk bombing a section of tracks any decent distance from this city. That being because of the enemy armored train’s mortar cannons. Also, if we were able to take out a small section of track, the enemy could likely repair it quickly. Our engineering units had to repair multiple sections of track during our advance south that had been damaged or destroyed by the loyalists. So, we know that repairing a small section is not hard with the right tools and personnel. Our best shot at taking out this train is to destroy the rail bridge over a small river valley about a day from here by foot. Even if the train is not on the bridge when we blow it, it will be unable to close in on us if it is stuck on the eastern side. That will make sure that the train will not be able to spearhead any enemy counterattacks on Fabasu. If the train is on the western side of the bridge when it is destroyed, it will be stuck on our side and unable to resupply. Either the crew will abandon the train, or they will be overwhelmed by our forces without easy access to backup.”

Antonio nodded approvingly at James and explained, “We need to send a strike force to plant dynamite at the bridge’s supports and then escape to a safe range for detonation. This force will likely have to contend with loyalist patrols on their way to the bridge. They will also have to deal with the train itself, assuming they encounter it. The enemy will likely have a more active security presence at night. They will except an attack to be made under the cover of darkness. Therefore, we will probably want to attack the bridge during the day in order to catch them off guard.”

Sandra added, “I have already offered to lead this mission. James, and Bradley will come with me and Mia will be with us for sniper support. We are also hoping to bring Captain Fujiwhara with us. She will likely have her apprentice stay here and command the main War Tiger force.”

Isabella said, “I should probably stay behind this time. I need to focus on directing my agents to ferment more uprisings in Southern Terranor. If we can keep the enemy forces in Ruvia distracted, then they will not be able march north and confront us here.”

Mara offered, “Seeing as though missions like this are a specialty of mine, I request to come with Sandra’s team. I would like to bring Victor and Sugaru along for magical support as well.”

Antonio told Mara, “Your request is granted. We will send a strike team of twelve soldiers and three engineers to take down the bridge. There will be fifteen people in total. Sandra will assign four experienced soldiers to accompany our elites, along with the engineering team. I will be staying here in Fabasu with Isabella to figure out our plan for taking control of the enemy’s Plaincrest Camp.”

Sandra saluted her husband and declared, “I will depart immediately to gather my squad for this mission.”

Victor volunteered, “I will go and find Talia in that case. When do we depart for this mission?”

Sandra told Victor, as she was about to head out the door, “Tomorrow morning as early as everyone is up and ready. We should probably reach the bridge in the late afternoon.”

Antonio said, “I will have recovery teams get ready to look for your force tomorrow evening in case you end up pursued by loyalist squads. Best of luck to you all… Sandra, be safe out there. Make me proud, honey.”

Sandra blushed a bit. She then saluted her husband and the others one more time. Sandra left the briefing room with Victor right behind her after that. As Antonio and some of the other high-ranking rebel officers begun to study the map for the best approaches to use for the assault on Plaincrest, Mara left the room to go prepare for tomorrow’s operation.

As Mara, with Sugaru in tow, headed downstairs, she mentioned, “We are closing in on the continental capital. Alexander Rosewater’s forces in Ruvia have been bogged down by revolts and the defection of Vargas Technologies. Public opinion is mostly against the United Church both at home and abroad. However, they have still limited the deployment of their strongest units, their remaining High Council Members.”

Sugaru seemed to remember something. He asked his fiancé, “I guess you haven’t heard what happened in Altexco recently?”

Mara remembered that Altexco was an ancient city nestled in the mountains of Central Ruvia. She asked Sugaru, “What happened in Altexco?”

Sugaru responded, “It was all over the newspapers! A bombing attack at the main church in Altexco, combined with a rebel ambush, killed Alexander Rosewater and most of his entourage. The rebel ambushers were killed by loyalists before they could escape. However, the United Church is still reeling from the loss of a second member of their High Council to this war. They are going to have trouble filling two seats, this whole situation is unprecedented for them.”

As the young couple exited the Fabasu City Hall, Mara replied, “In that case, only three members of the UCG High Council remain. Ernesto Berkman, who was assigned command of Heaven’s Spire last time I checked. Sapphire C. Coril, who has been commanding the defense of Agharta. Then, there’s Kylana, the most powerful of the trio. I do not know what she has been up to.”

Sugaru nodded and finished, “We will force them from power and then Bakaria will be free, all according to your plans.”

Mara nodded and took her betrothed’s hand. She looked him in the eyes and told him, “We will end this brutal cycle of violence. Terranor will be free alongside Bakaria. Theocracy has failed us for sure. Something better will have to take its place. Bakaria’s future relations with the main continent depend on that.”

Sugaru simply gripped Mara’s hand tightly. He simply nodded back at the woman he loved. After that, the young couple headed off to their officer’s barracks prepare for tomorrow’s operation. They would need to be ready to deploy the next morning.


	24. The Assault on the Armored Train

\---

Sapphire Coril and Kylana were both standing in the Prime Church’s emergency war room. They were looking over a map of Central Terranor. The map depicted the capital city of Agharta, the nearby town of Plaincrest, the Fortress of Heaven’s Spire, the port city of Playamar and the rebel-occupied city of Fabasu among other locations. A series of pins and miniatures indicated the reported presence of rebel and loyalist units in the vicinity.

Kylana was the first to speak, breaking the silence between the two High Priestesses. She told Sapphire, “The loss of Alexander has been an unfortunate development. While many of our supporters consider him and Durkal to be martyrs, his assassination has only emboldened the growing number of rebels in Southern Terranor.”

Sapphire nodded and replied, “Rebel sympathizers in the south have begun to call the bastards who carried out the bombing plot martyrs. We are down to three High Council Members. Only you and I stand in here defense of Agharta.”

Kylana told Sapphire, “Ernesto has left Heaven’s Spire. He has gone to our Plaincrest Camp to command the forces there. He told me he has come up with a plan that will hopefully eliminate some of the rebels’ most elite soldiers. We will have to see how well he carries out that plan. What has me more worried is that the rebels’ main army is less than a week from Agharta by foot, yet it is only early Autumn.”

Sapphire sighed and added, “Our Inquisition operatives are being outmaneuvered and ensnared by the rebels’ intelligence and security units. Liliana’s druids in the nearby forests have followed the Flame Duchy’s example and declared their neutrality. We cannot afford to withdraw our remaining forces from Ruvia without risking the rebels making significant gains there. Worse of all, Vargas Technologies supporting the rebellion has severely diminished our supply lines and given the rebels access to new technology.”

Kylana looked over as Sapphire’s eyes flared up with purple light. The light elven High Priestess then slammed her fists into the table and angrily shouted, “Why did this all have to happen? This whole confluence of events has conspired to destroy all that we have accomplished! Woodstock, Bakaria, the last war, Alana Kubrick, the defeat of our main army! This whole thing has been a disaster! …”

As Sapphire was breathing heavily, Kylana looked down at the table, saying nothing. Sapphire then seemed to calm down a bit. She then despondently continued, “When we overthrew the Order of Light, everything was great. We were the heroes. We stopped a great evil and liberated our home. Now, Woodstock and Winslow think they have the right to take all of that away. They think that they can just pretend all the good that we did never happened? If they win the war, they will rewrite the history books to erase our heroism and make themselves look like the ones who freed Terranor from evil. It just isn’t fair… What went wrong here?”

Kylana looked over at Sapphire and replied, “Ingratitude and arrogance I would say. It turns out that much of this continent’s populace did not deserve our divinely-guided rule. Now, we are losing our grip on this place. All hope for our church is not lost, however.”

Sapphire asked Kylana, “What do you mean? Do you still think that we can hold Agharta? Maybe with both of us, Sasha and much of our army still here, we can take on a full-scale rebel attack?”

Kylana solemnly nodded her head no and explained, “I believe that the rebels advantage will likely just increase from here. We will see what Ernesto’s plan leads to. However, I believe that our enemies are only gaining support. Many citizens who otherwise might have supported us have decided that they want to be on the winning side. They might claim that they are supporting the right side of history. However, there is a shallowness to their support for the rebels.”

Sapphire asked Kylana, “Maybe we should have tried to deny the truth about our god when the Bakarians first revealed it? Maybe deciding that it was time for the truth to be known was a bad idea? Still, we cannot put the genie back in the bottle now. Regardless, what is your plan? If you think we cannot stop the rebels advance, then how will our church survive?”

Kylana replied, “My plan involves your old home city of Playamar. You see, I have stationed a small fleet of ships there. Their official purpose is to drive off the threat of the, rapidly growing, rebel navy. However, most of the ships are transports, not warships. I intend to gather as many loyal soldiers, agents and civilians as I can in Playamar. If it looks like Agharta will fall to the enemy, I will go and join them. We will set sail for a foreign land as a refugee fleet. We will find a land that will take us. From there, we will work towards rebuilding our church and gaining control of that land. Our master is losing faith in us. They need to see that we can be resourceful and escape the rebels if we cannot defeat them militarily. I was actually thinking of possibly sailing my fleet to Eulidia. They have a treaty-limited military and a populace that has lost a degree of faith in their government and church since they lost the last war. Maybe we could pull off a coup there, given time?”

Sapphire was admittedly shocked by Kylana’s proposal. She nervously asked Kylana, “What of me? If you flee the continent, what will I do?”

Kylana smiled at Sapphire and then moved to exit the room. She explained, “I know you, Sapphire. You are a soldier at heart. You will stay here and defend this city to the end. I have faith that you will do your best and ideally succeed in weathering the storm of war. However, I have the ultimate survival of the United Church to think of. The sacrifice of those who died in this war will not be in vain.”

With that, Kylana left the room. Sapphire was left there, alone. The light elf woman slammed a purple flame-covered fist onto the table. She knew that Kylana was right about her not abandoning Agharta. Sapphire just knew that there had to be a way to save the United Church’s Terranoran presence. She just needed one major victory. Hopefully, that major victory would involve killing Antonio Woodstock.

\---

Mara Winslow was walking in the late-afternoon sun near the head of a small procession of rebel soldiers advancing across the plains just north of a running river that would soon flow into a valley. Victor, Sugaru, Sandra, James, Mia, Bradley, Talia, four rebel soldiers and three rebel engineers made up the advancing strike force. Expect for Talia, everyone was wearing dark blue and white painted armor. Talia did not seem to own any armor other than her magically-enhanced black leather stealth armor. The War Tiger’s leader had left her assistant Natalie and quartermaster Oliver in charge of the War Tiger troops stationed in Fabasu.

As the rebels navigated their way around the various species of underbrush and scattered tress littering the grassy plain, they saw that they were finally closing in on the dip in the ground leading into the valley. They could see the bridge they were intended to destroy in the distance.

As the rebels neared the edge of the valley, Mara and Sandra stooped the small formation’s movement. Mara took out her binoculars and then smiled as she looked through them. She told her allies, “The armored train is right on top of the bridge. It has six cars in total: the engine at the front, two flatbed cars with long range mortars mounted on them, two passenger cars with light cannons mounted on top of them in turrets and the caboose.”

James worriedly suggested, “If we can blow that bridge, the train will come toppling to its demise. My question is why have they parked it right there? That is right where it is most vulnerable.”

Mara continued to scan the area and replied, “I think I know why. There are around twenty loyalist soldiers guarding the bridge in the valley. There is a man with them carrying a big sword and a shield. He has a gilded holy symbol of the UCG around his neck. He just has to be their commander.”

Mia looked down into the valley through the scope of her sniper rifle. She soon told everyone, “That’s Ernesto Berkman! He is the last High Priest remaining. I thought that he was supposed to be in command of Heaven’s Spire? If he’s here, then this must be a trap. Thankfully, we did not just walk right into it.”

Sandra said, “We cannot afford to retreat and get more reinforcements. We already had to take on one loyalist patrol and wipe them out on the way here. The enemies in the valley will likely know that their patrol did not report back in. They will know that we are coming. Still, they have not spotted us yet.”

Talia chimed in, “They could spot us at any moment. I can make myself or someone else invisible. However, that will only allow one person to sneak down there. We need a way to take advantage of the element of surprise while we still have it.”

Bradley pointed out, “They could have snipers on the train, not to mention the light cannons on the passenger cars. We will need to create some kind of cover for ourselves. It would be great if we had an illusionist with us.”

Sugaru seemed to be deep in thought. He spoke up to say, “Victor, I hope that you can disable the light cannons if we get close enough. I should be able to provide us some concealment from the train’s snipers. What I am going to do will alert the enemy that something is going on. So, we will need to charge them fast after I do it.”

As Victor nodded in agreement with Sugaru, everyone looked to Sandra, who drew her heavy revolver and said, “Sounds good to me. Mia, stay back and find a good position to snipe from. Talia, go invisible and get past their front ranks. Victor, get ready to take out those light cannons. Everyone else, follow me!”

As Talia went invisible and Victor prepared to cast a spell, the rebels got up from their crouched positons. Mia stayed behind and took aim at the loyalist soldiers farthest away from Ernesto Berkman. With Sandra and Mara in the lead, the rebels charged towards the center of the bridge. The rebel engineers brought up the rear with their bolt-action rifles readied.

Sugaru threw a ball of smoke from his hand into the air above him. The smoky ball exploded into an expansive field of thick smoke that blocked the loyalist snipers on the train from getting a good view of the battlefield below.

Victor shouted, “Once we are past the smoke, I will take out one of their cannons!”

As the rebels made their way closer to the loyalist squad, they heard Ernesto call out, “Enemies sighted! They have taken the bait!”

As bullets began to fly from both sides, Mia slew a loyalist deep elf arcanist with a single bullet that hit home right between his eyes.

Ernesto smiled and raised up his hands. Purple flames erupted from them and a hole in reality opened up above the rebel column. However, Sandra shot him in the chest with her sidearm before he could complete his spell. The dimensional hole closed before purple flames could pour out of it.

Ernesto rapidly healed his wound with a burst of purple light. However, he was unable to stop a hail of rebel bullets from downing two of his soldiers.

The charging rebels were now almost past the smoke barrier. Victor saw one of the armored train’s light cannons taking aim at the rebels. He conjured and tossed a green spear of corrosive acid into the cannon’s barrel. The gun was rendered unable to fire. Its barrel was now too heavily damaged to risk a shot. Sugaru threw up a smaller cloud of fog to try and keep the enemy snipers on the train confounded as the rebels neared the bridge’s supports.

Victor prepared to throw a second acidic spear at the other cannon as Mara rapidly downed a loyalist dwarf soldier with a revolver bullet to the head.

All of the sudden, two loyalist dwarves with impaled in the back by Talia’s tiger claws. As they dropped dead, Ernesto surrounded himself with purple fire and then charged forward to engage Talia.

Mara saw an enemy chaplain firing a beam of purple light at her. She ducked the beam of coursing energy and then saw the chaplain fall to a headshot from Mia. The veteran rebel sniper had learned to focus on hostile spellcasters during the last war. Her training and precision were not failing her today.

The rebel and loyalist squads were nearly in melee range of each other. Victor took out the second light cannon with an acidic spear before it could fire on Mia’s position. Sugaru then summoned up his blood red energy beams and blasted four loyalist soldiers as Bradley and James covered him with their heavy shields.

Sandra holstered her revolver and then drew her greatsword from her back, she screamed a war cry and then surged forward. She sliced into a pair of loyalist light infantrymen, dropping both of them.

As a rebel soldier was felled from multiple bullet wounds fired from enemy rifles, a pair of human loyalist knights wielding their own greatswords came charging towards Sandra. Their bulky weapons were sheathed in purple flames. Bradley and James charged in to help their commander and friend against the advancing knights.

Mara’s shoulder plate reflected an enemy bullet as she kept moving forward. She drew her shotgun and used it to blast a loyalist riflewoman who had stood in her way. The rebel engineers, guarded by a heavily armored soldier, were advancing on the central bridge supports as fast as they could.

Mara called out, with Victor and Sugaru now covering her and Mia providing sniper support, “Come on! If we can plant the dynamite and light the fuses, we can fall back before the smoke and fog clears!”

The engineering squad and their protector rushed forward. Victor covered them by blasting a loyalist deep elf if the head with a sphere of fire. He then looked around and saw Talia evading swing after swing of Ernesto’s sword. He told Mara, “She’s doing great, but she cannot hold out forever!”

Mara nodded and then told Victor, “Help protect the engineers while they set the explosives! The enemy snipers should not be able to effectively shoot downwards at such a steep angle!”

Mara pumped her shotgun. She saw Sandra, Bradley and James taking down one loyalist knight together out of the corner of her eyes. Mia shot the other one in the throat. As he made a last desperate attempt to heal himself, he was felled by gunfire from two other rebel soldiers.

Mara charged at Ernesto from behind. She aimed her shotgun and fired a spread into the purple flames surrounding the High Priest. The blast dispelled a significant portion of the flames. However, Ernesto then turned around and saw Mara. He shouted, “Winslow! You started this damned whole war! Die you…”

Talia pounced on Ernesto from behind, her vicious attack dispelled his purple flames. Ernesto slammed his shield into Mara, sending her reeling back. He coldly told Mara, “I will deal with you once your mercenary assassin is dead!”

Talia took a fighting stance. However, Ernesto summoned a blast of cacophonous sound over her that was accompanied by sparks of purple lighting. Talia dropped her tiger claws and held her hand to her ears, bending over in pain.

Ernesto raised up his sword and shouted, “Off with your head, you worthless scumbag!”

As Mara tried to collect herself and pump her shotgun for another blast, she saw that Talia was about to get decapitated.

Victor blasted a loyalist soldier, who had tried to gun down a rebel engineer, with a ray of fire. He then saw what was about to happen to Talia and tried to conjure up his force fireworks to bombard Ernesto. It did not seem like he could summon up the magical energy in time.

Ernesto began swing his blade down towards Talia’s neck. His weapon was magically sheathed in raging purple flames. Mara took aim with her shotgun. However, Ernesto suddenly stopped his downward swing. He seemed to have seen something out of the corner of his eye.

Before Ernesto could react, a single bullet pierced his forehead. The High Priest’s sword and eyes lost their purple flames. Ernesto Berkman collapsed onto his shield, dropping his sword. He stopped breathing before he hit the ground.

Bradley called out, “Nice shot Mia!”

Mara realized that Mia had killed a member of the enemy High Council. She looked around and saw that the rebel engineers had set the dynamite at three of the bridge’s supports.

As Sandra and James dispatched the last of the enemy soldiers on the ground, Victor ordered, “We need to fall back before Sugaru’s spells end! Don’t worry about wiring up the dynamite. I can set it off once we are clear!”

Mara called out, “You all heard the man! Full retreat! Mia can cover us against the loyalist snipers if they see us!”

The rebel strike force hauled ass up and away from the bridge towards the top of the valley. The smoke and fog created by Sugaru’s spells was indeed beginning to dissipate. Loyalist sniper bullets began to fly at the rebels. However, their aim was disrupted by the fact that the train they were on had started to move.

The armored train was trying to back up so as to get off the bridge and end up on the eastern side. Once the rebels were nearly out of the valley, Victor conjured up a force shield around himself. He smiled and shouted, “Let’s see if this works!”

Victor stretched out his hands and a humming noise filled the air. A massive explosion of fire suddenly erupted over the central support beam. While the fire was not enough to destroy the supports by itself. It did set off all of the dynamite that the rebels had planted in a dramatic fashion.

With all three main supports destroyed, the bridge collapsed. The armored train’s caboose had made it to the eastern side of the bridge. However, the trains engine and other cars were caught on the collapsing structure. The rebel strike force met up with a smiling Mia as they watched the armored train’s engine collapsing to the ground. The engine dragged all five cars with it. The train collapsed into a burning heap at the bottom of the bridge. Many of the artillery shells stored on the train went off soon after that. The resulting series of explosions created a devastating inferno that no humanoid could have survived.

As the rebels began to make their way back to meet up with a recovery team and get back to Fabasu, Mara told Victor and Sugaru, “Excellent job both of you! That will be another story to tell one day.”

Talia admitted to Mia, “I am pretty sure that you saved my life back there. I see why you were the ace sniper of the Cerberus Battalion.”

Mia simply smiled and nodded at Talia, telling her, “You were pretty brave to try to engage a High Priest by yourself. What matters is that the mission was a success. We lost only one soldier while the loyalists lost a High Priest and their armored train, along with all of its crew.”

Sandra nodded and declared, “Now, all we need to do is get back to Fabasu. From there, we will plan how to capture Plaincrest. From there, it’s a straight shot to the continental capital. There, we will end the UCG and this war.”

While Mara liked the sound of ending the war, she was a little worried about what Sandra said about ending the UCG. Could the rebels really destroy an entire religion. Was that even necessary? Mara continued to question that particular goal of the Woodstocks’ as the rebel strike force made its way back to the safety of Fabasu.


	25. The Infiltration of Plaincrest

Two days after the successful attack on the railway bridge, Mara Winslow was among a significant number of rebel officers who had gathered in the briefing room of Fabasu’s city hall. Talia and Natalie were both present to represent their company. Antonio Woodstock stood next to the rebels’ map of the region. His wife Sandra stood next to him. James, Bradley, Mia, Victor, Isabella and Sugaru were also present for the briefing.

Mara knew that things had been going well for the Second Rebellion. The forces loyal to the UCG had been steadily retreating ever since failing to invade Bakaria and capture Narvograd. The United Church and its leadership had failed to maintain the support of most of the Terranoran populace once their secret had been revealed. The resulting conflict has caught the UCG off guard and forced them on the defensive. Added on to that, the rebels had still not deployed their new long-range cannons in significant numbers. Antonio had told Mara that he wanted to deploy the weapons once the rebels seized Plaincrest. Once there, they would be used to bombard Agharta’s defenses. The continental capital would be softened up by an extensive artillery bombardment before the rebel forces made their full-scale assault.

Antonio called the meeting to order. He then began, “Victory is nearly within our grasp. The only real barrier between us and the capital is the enemy’s camp in Plaincrest. The good news is that the camp has been built up hastily. It has nowhere near the defenses or the firepower of something like Heaven’s Spire. The bad news is that we believe the enemy has stationed two of their best remaining artillery units on the western edge of town. They do not have the range to hit us here. However, they can and will bombard our forces as soon as they realize that we are coming. We can probably camp most of our forces about a day or less from Plaincrest and still be just out of range of those guns. However, it would be best if we could take them down before our main force assaults the camp.”

Sandra added, “Even at night, they will likely detect any airships, dragons, or other airborne units we send to destroy the artillery coming. Also, we have not ruled out the possibility that these guns could be angled upwards to hit lower-flying airships.”

Mara suggested, “What we need to do is find a way to send in an infiltration force to take out the bug guns that the enemy will not easily see coming.”

Isabella smiled and announced, “I think I know just the way. Talia, Natalie, My Lady, do you remember the vehicle we used to rescue Alana Kubrick?”

Natalie replied, “Yeah, the old horseless carriage.”

Isabella explained, “I have been using it for supply runs, courier duty and patrols ever since we successfully defended the _Winslow Line_. I actually have it right here in Fabasu as we speak.”

Talia thought out loud, “We could use it rapidly sneak in a small force of infiltrators who could find a way to sabotage the enemy cannons. Presumably, we would do so under the cover of darkness. Then, we could extract the sabotage team and meet up with the main force.”

Natalie helpfully offered, “Oliver should be able to get some stealth armor suits ready. We should also still have some of our collection of bows and crossbows with him.”

Isabella replied, “I don’t think we will need saps this time. We also won’t need to waste the arrows and bolts with the knock out poison. This is war, unlike last time. Any enemies we kill are enemies we won’t have to deal with later.”

Mara suggested, “I’m in. I assume that I will be going in with Talia, Natalie and Isabella, just like last time. We will need the best intel on the camp we can get. Once we reach our destination, we will need to split into two teams. One will try to sabotage each artillery battery. It will be critical that we remain undetected. Still, we should probably bring our normal weapons, just in case we need to fight our way out.”

Bradley chimed in, “Alfonso actually sent us a shipment of new equipment recently that could come in handy for this mission. He called them ‘time bombs.’ They are simple explosives with a timer that can be set for up to an hour. Even a couple of these bombs per artillery battery should be enough to set off a chain reaction that will take out the whole unit.”

Mara asked Bradley, “How many of these bombs do we have here now?”

Bradley responded, “I would have to check, but I think at least eight.”

Talia smiled and replied, “That will be enough for each of us to carry two bombs. We will plant the explosives, set the timers and then escape in the chaos as the bombs go off.”

Sugaru asked Mara, “Do you think that the four of you can pull this off? You will have no dedicated spellcasting support on this one.”

Mara replied, “We pulled it off last time. This time, we will not be focusing on being non-lethal. Also, this time we know what our objective is for sure. Last time, our objective changed mid-mission. That is a lot less likely this time around.”

Isabella suggested, “I would like to go with Talia this time. Her stealth instincts should balance out my bloodlust nicely. That leaves Lady Mara and Natalie to make up the other team. Hopefully, we can find a good place close to the enemy camp to park the carriage where it will stay concealed.”

Antonio announced, “I think that I can approve this mission. Tomorrow, our main force will depart from Fabasu. We will march east over the next few days and make camp within striking distance of Plaincrest. From there, Mara’s team will deploy with the goal of reaching the enemy camp at night. They will sabotage the enemy cannon batteries and then escape back to our main force as the bombs go off.”

Natalie added, “I should go find Oliver and tell him what equipment we will need for this infiltration.”

As Talia nodded approvingly at her apprentice, Bradley said, “I will go see what I can do about getting the time bombs requisitioned for this operation.”

Antonio finished, “We will continue working on our plan to capture Plaincrest as our forces prepare to advance on the town. I am thinking about attacking the enemy camp as close to dawn as possible. That way, the enemy will be less likely to be awake and ready for our assault. At the same time, they will not have the cover of darkness to obscure their positions.”

Victor pointed out, “We still do not know who is in command of the Plaincrest Camp now. With Ernesto Berkman dead, we are not sure if one of the two surviving High Council members will be in command. They might have assigned a non-clergy member high-ranking officer for all that we know?”

Sandra replied, “Whoever is in command of the camp does not change the fact that we will need to capture it if we intend to seize Agharta. There clearly will be no celestial army coming to save the UCG this time. We will bring about the end of their reign and free Terranor once and for all!”

Antonio smiled at his wife. He ordered, “I want all commanders to rally their soldiers to march on Plaincrest. Once we are within a day of the town, we will make camp and send out our stealth force to destroy their big guns. Are we all clear?”

All of the present rebel officers nodded and saluted Antonio. They then got to work preparing to march on Plaincrest. Mara went off with Sugaru and Victor to get ready to move out. She would miss Fabasu. However, the end of the war, what she had sought for months, was coming within her reach.

A few days later, the armies of the Second Rebellion had made camp about a day’s march from Plaincrest. They had wiped out every enemy patrol unit they had come across. They did not know if the loyalists knew they were coming. However, they knew that the enemy’s cannon batteries needed to be destroyed before they could easily capture the town turned military encampment.

It was early afternoon on the grassy plains. Mara Winslow was wearing her suit of black leather stealth armor as she walked over to Isabella’s black horseless carriage. This time the infiltrators were not wearing their masks. If they were detected, there would be no point in hiding their identities. She was also wearing a small backpack with two time bombs in it and carrying all of her normal weapons and a War Tiger crossbow. The bolts she was carrying for the crossbow had sharper and harder points and did not deliver knock out poison.

Mara saw Natalie and Talia boarding the carriage, wearing their stealth armor and backpacks. Isabella was getting into the driver’s seat, also wearing her stealth armor. As Mara was nearly to the vehicle, she heard a familiar voice telling her, “You look great.”

Mara turned around to see Sugaru walking over to her. She blushed a bit and smiled at her fiancé.

Sugaru walked over to Mara and embraced her. He then told her, “Come back to me, ok. We have almost won this thing. I do trust that you know what you are doing. With that said, good luck out there and be careful.”

Mara kissed Sugaru’s lips and told him, “I like to think that I make my own luck. Thank you, anyway. We will see each other again soon.”

Sugaru disengaged the hug and rolled his eyes a bit. He then told Mara, “You sound like my parents. I’ll admit that we Fadalians have never been the biggest believers in luck. Either way, let me know as soon as you return to camp.”

Mara nodded and then saluted her betrothed. Before turning to leave, she told him, “I will come back to you. You still have not formally met my parents yet, for one thing.”

Sugaru chuckled slightly as Mara turned and then boarded the carriage. Isabella then began to drive east after Mara had gotten on board.

Isabella made sure to avoid main roads and loyalist patrols as the sun continued to get lower in the sky. The carriage made its way closer and closer to the lights of Plaincrest as it began to get dark outside. By the time that the carriage reached the area just beyond the loyalist camp’s outer perimeter, it was night. Loyalist searchlights on wooden towers were scanning the perimeter of the camp. They provided some extra illumination. However, the rebel infiltrators knew that they could not afford to be caught in one of the light beams they projected.

It did not Isabella too long to find a place to park the carriage in. She hid it in a small grove of trees and bushes not too far, but not too close, from the camps outskirts. Talia went invisible, which she said she could only do for so long at a time, and then went to scout out the locations of the artillery batteries.

When Talia returned, she explained where both of the batteries were located on the western edge of the encampment. It was agreed that Mara and Natalie would go and sabotage the closer southern battery. Isabella and Talia were to advance to the northern battery and sabotage it. Both teams would detonate their explosives as soon as they could and then make it back to the carriage as fast as they could before too many loyalist reinforcements could arrive on scene.

Right after Talia and Isabella left, Mara and Natalie departed from the hidden carriage. Mara led the way, staying crouched and advancing carefully, over closer to the southern battery. The two women did their best to track the patterns of the searchlights. They did not want to be caught in the beams, especially before placing their time bombs.

Natalie followed Mara past a series of barricades, which were illuminated by the occasional lantern. The duo managed to avoid detection by the loyalist troops on night patrol.

It was not long until the pair of infiltrators saw a line of eight long range cannons, grouped into two units of four big guns. As the pair took cover behind a large crate filled with artillery shells, Natalie quietly pointed out, “I see two guards patrolling near the closer battery of cannons. I would bet that there will be two guards protecting the other battery as well.”

Mara nodded and whispered back, “Can you go and place your pair of time bombs at the other set of cannons? You will probably have to take out the guards there. Let’s hope we are not too close to a guard shift change.”

Natalie nodded and then saluted Mara. She drew her two crossbows and then peered over the crate to mentally plan a path to the farther away half of the southern battery. After a moment, the young mercenary suddenly slipped away into the darkness, whispering to Mara, “I will meet you back here, My Lady. Good luck.”

Mara nodded, even though she was pretty sure that Natalie could not see her nodding. The Winslow Heiress then peered over the crate and surveyed the area for any more loyalists patrolling it. Seeing no other enemies in her immediate vicinity, Mara decided to make a plan to dispatch the two patrolling soldiers guarding the battery.

Mara decided to crawl forward past some small supply crates and weapons racks, as the two guards continued their patrol. She then stood up and took cover behind a tent. One of the guards was now almost next to her, but did not seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Mara drew her rapier in one hand and her crossbow in the other. With incredible precision, she waited until the guard was right next to the tent. She then slit his throat with her rapier’s freezing blade in one simple motion.

The second guard had her back to Mara and was a good distance away. However, she seemed to hear the sound of her comrade falling to the ground. Before she could turn around, Mara took aim with her crossbow and shot the enemy in the back. The bolt hit home and pierced the loyalist soldier’s light armor and heart.

With both guards dispatched and the rest of the camp seemingly none the wiser, Mara crouched down, reloaded her crossbow, and moved over to the cannons. She set one time bomb between two of the guns and then the second bomb between the other pair. She then wasted no time making her way back to the large supply crate where she was to wait for Natalia. Mara only hoped that the time bombs would work as intended. Otherwise, she and Natalie could be in danger from the chain reaction blasts.

Mara carefully looked around as she stood behind the crate, she was then tapped on the shoulder. Natalie’s voice whispered, “I am back. The two guards are down and the bombs are set. We should go now before the bombs go off. Hopefully, Talia and Isabella have done as well as we have.”

Mara breathed a sigh of relief that Natalie had returned safely. She then led the younger girl away from the camp, out through the barricades.

Suddenly, as Mara and Natalie were trying to navigate past the enemy searchlights, they heard a series of loyalist alarms going off.

Natalie said, “It sounds like those alarms are coming from the northern part of the camp…”

Then, as Mara briefly turned around, she heard a thundering explosion and saw a colossal conflagration on the northern side of the camp. Mara said, “There goes the northern battery. Still, the alarm went off before the time bombs did?”

Natalie added, “We should be getting back to the carriage regardless…”

All of the sudden a searchlight found Mara and Natalie, catching them in its brilliant beam of light. Mara raised a hand to shield her eyes. She then called out, “Run!”

As Natalie and Mara were about to retreat, they glimpsed a loyalist patrol rushing towards them. Mara drew her rapier instinctively and Natalie was about to go for her revolvers.

Before the two dazzled young women could ready themselves to fight or flee, a clanging sonic blast crackling with purple lightning erupted over the two of them. Mara dropped her rapier in shock and Natalie held her hands to her ears.

As Mara began to recover from being shaken by the cacophonic blast, she tried to reach for her rapier, only to find that the loyalist patrol was already right on top of her and Natalie.

A familiar male voice angrily said to Mara, “Hello, Lieutenant.”

Mara looked up as she reached for her rapier and saw Wilhelm Creek, her old Cerberus Battalion squad’s chaplain charging right for her. Mara was unable to avoid a purple fire covered punch to her gut from Wilhelm.

The Winslow Heiress doubled over and fell to one knee as three heavily armored loyalist elite soldiers surrounded Natalie.

Natalie was told, “On your knees, hands on your head!” The silver-haired girl did as she was told and did not attempt to draw any weapons.

As Mara grabbed her rapier, she saw Natalie’s arms being grabbed by the elite soldiers. She then saw Wilhelm raising up his warhammer to strike at her. He told Mara, “Mara Alastair Winslow, I arrest you for high treason against the Domain of Terranor. Just remember, you started this. It was your choice.”

As Mara grimaced in pain, the southern battery was destroyed in an enormous series of blasts of fire and shrapnel. One of Wilhelm’s soldiers was distracted. However, Wilhelm and the two troopers restraining Natalie were not. As Mara smiled, thinking that she had at least accomplished her mission, Wilhelm brought down the handle of his warhammer. The weapon’s hilt struck Mara in the head and knocked her out cold.


	26. The Power of Hate

When Mara slowly began to wake up, it took her a few moments to take in her surroundings. She soon realized that she was in a barred prison cell of some kind. A small window at the back of the room letting in a small amount of sunlight. Across the room from Mara was a bed with no covers. Mara realized that she was lying on a similar bed. A basic ledge that could act as a bench jutted out from the wall in between the two beds.

Mara blinked her eyes, and look over at the cell’s door. She saw that there was a hallway with another, smaller looking, prison cell opposite the one she was in. The cell was empty, but its door was open, oddly enough.

A familiar female voice asked, “Are you awake now, Lady Winslow?”

Mara blinked and looked over at the bed across from the hers and saw Natalie Tolston. The young woman was still wearing her stealth armor. However, all of its weapons holsters and sheaths were gone. Furthermore, her ankles were connected by chained legs irons. A length of chain wrapped around Natalie’s waist as well. As Natalie got up and then sat down on the bench closer to Mara, she could see that the young mercenary’s hands were cuffed behind her back. The handcuffs were connected to Natalie’s waist chain.

Realizing that Mara was looking over her restraints, Natalie said, “You are chained in the same way, My Lady. They searched our armor for any possible hidden pockets and took all of our weapons. They are clearly not taking any chances with us.”

Mara managed to haul herself upright on her bed. This was despite not having the use of her cuffed hands. After a moment, the Winslow Heiress stood up in her shackles and then walked a few steps over to sit down next to Natalie.

Upbeat as ever, Natalie smiled at Mara and told her, “The good news is that we managed to destroy the enemy cannons. As for our current situation, I have faith that the others will come and rescue us soon. With the enemy cannons destroyed, they will be able to assault this camp.”

Mara asked Natalie, “Other than a prison cell, where are we? I did not see those loyalists knock you out. Where were we taken?”

Natalie helpfully replied, “From what I can tell, this was the town’s prison before the Loyalist Army took over and evacuated most of their civilians to Agharta. I was conscious when we were taken here. I had to sleep the night in my chains, but I managed. I think that it is at least late morning now.”

Mara sighed deeply and asked Natalie, “Regarding our chances of rescue, do we have any idea what happened to Talia and Isabella?”

Natalie seemed to remember something all of the sudden. She told Mara, “Isabella was captured as well. They had to lock her in even heavier cuffs and chains then what we are wearing. They took her from her cell for interrogation about an hour ago. However, before then, she managed to tell me that after she blew their cover by accident, Talia used her invisibility magic to escape. Hopefully, she got away in the carriage. Isabella said that she taught Talia how to drive it earlier.”

Mara froze up for a moment when Natalie said that Isabella had been captured. She slowly replied, “I just hope that the enemy does not realize what Isabella is. She is as good as dead if they do.”

Natalie remained calm and said, “I have faith that we will be free again soon. Talia would not let me stay in the clutches of the enemy for too long. She is practically my big sister. Also, my boyfriend will insist that action is taken to rescue us as soon as possible.”

Natalie blushed a bit as she finished her statement. Mara could not help but ask, “You have a boyfriend?”

Natalie continued to blush as she explained, “Oliver and I have been together since just before the first battle of this war. He is not even the first person I’ve been with, to be honest. He’s actually not much older than I am. …Anyway, he will want me back in his arms and Talia will want me rescued as well, not to mention all of your friends and allies… and your fiancé will want to see you again.”

Mara nodded, sighing deeply. She looked Natalie in the eyes and told her, “We just need our allies to rescue us before the loyalists decide to transfer us to Agharta. You may just be treated as another prisoner of war. You are a mercenary officially, so you will not even be considered a traitor. They might even want to exchange you for any loyalist prisoner, or prisoners, our side has taken. However, Isabella risks summary execution. As for me, I risk a public trial in Agharta for so-called high treason and likely public execution after that.”

Natalie gulped, clearly worried for Isabella and Mara. She stammered, “I guess we will just have to hope that our allies move quickly in that case. I would bet they will be here in a couple days at the latest.”

Mara grimly replied, “Let’s just hope that we have a couple of days.”

Natalie simply nodded in understanding. She looked legitimately worried about the situation for once.

The two chained prisoners waited on their cell’s bench for what felt like a few hours. They occasionally saw a loyalist guard walking past their cell. However, none of the passing enemy personnel stopped at the cell’s barred door.

Mara was starting to feel hungry. However, she was unsure of when she and Natalie would be fed, if at all. As Mara was contemplating how she and Natalie and could possible escape their situation, she heard a vaguely familiar voice saying, “Hello, Winslow. Fancy meeting you here.”

Natalie and Mara looked up and Mara grimaced. She saw a light elf brunette wearing an unarmored Loyalist Army female officer’s uniform. She knew that this had to be Sasha Cordwin, the younger sister of High Priestess Sapphire Coril. Sasha was standing just outside of Mara and Natalie’s cell.

A pair of elite loyalist soldiers walked into view. One of them readied her revolver, while the other unlocked the door to the cell.

Sasha ordered the two captives, “Get up girls, my big sister wants to see the two of you… especially you, ‘My Lady’” It was obvious in the light elf sorceresses’ tone that she was mocking Mara.

Mara did as she was told, knowing that resistance here was futile. Natalie also stood up. The elite guard, covered by his comrade, entered the room and grabbed each prisoner by one of their bound arms. 

As Mara and Natalie were being dragged out of their cell, moving more slowly due to their leg irons, Natalie asked Sasha, “Where are you taking us?”

Sasha replied, “To the interrogation room. Your friend has been resisting quite admirably. All that we have been able to get out of her is that she was the head of Bakaria’s illegal intelligence agency. Despite being a self-proclaimed spymaster, she got a little too aggressive during your raid last night. She got herself detected and surrounded, forcing your Fadalian tigress friend to make her escape.”

Mara was relieved that Talia at least seemed to have gotten away safely. However, she could not help but tell Sasha, “Our mission was still a success, your artillery batteries are gone.”

The female elite guard struck Mara in the side of the head, ordering, “Quiet, you traitor.”

As Mara recoiled from the light blow, Sasha sighed and replied, “A new shipment of heavy cannons will be arriving from Agharta tomorrow at around noon. Also, last night was a victory for us, seeing as though we have finally been able to capture you, Mara Winslow. I can promise you that you will pay dearly for your treachery.”

Mara decided to keep her mouth shut as she continued to walk down the prison hallway, guided by the guard’s firm grip. Natalie did the same thing, not wanting to anger her captors.

Within a few minutes, Mara and Natalie were marched to an armored metal door. Standing guard over the door was Wilhelm Creek. Mara noticed that her former squad’s chaplain was wearing a Sergeant’s uniform this time.

Wilhelm opened the door and saluted Sasha. He told her, “Your older sister has been trying to get some useful information out of the other prisoner, Major. She has instructed me to tell you that the other prisoners are to be taken into the interrogation room and left with her. Your elite guards should come inside to keep watch.”

Sasha saluted Wilhelm back and replied, “Sounds good to me. I better get back to overseeing the cleanup of the wreckage of our artillery batteries. We want those positions ready for the new shipment coming in tomorrow.”

The pair of elite guards marched their chained prisoners into a plain, grey-walled room. There was a simple metal table with four chairs positioned around it. On the side closest to the door sat Sapphire Coril. She was wearing an embellished version of her old general’s uniform. This uniform did not feature the heavy armor plating of her combat uniform from the last war. On a chair off to the left of Sapphire’s sat Isabella Vladis. The muscular brunette was wearing her stealth armor without any weaponry holsters or sheathes attached. She was chained in the same way that Mara and Natalie were, but wearing heavier manacles and shackles instead of lighter cuffs. Isabella looked a bit roughed up and was looking defiantly over at Sapphire.

Mara and Natalie were marched over and sat down on a pair of chairs opposite Sapphire’s. The two elite guards then took up positions on each side of the door. Standing at attention, they said nothing.

Sapphire seemed to ignore Natalie. She simply looked Mara in the eyes and asked her, “Why did you start this, Mara Winslow? Bakaria was a prosperous and respected province in the Domain. It had its own militia and local government with limited home rule. If you had simply dropped your silly dream of independence, then hundreds, no, thousands, of people would still be alive today. If you had not tried to secede, then Alana Kubrick would never have found an audience. Woodstock would have found no reason to betray us and we would still have peace on Terranor. Now, you are going to be tried for high treason and put to death. You and your fellow prisoners will be loaded onto the supply train once it arrives tomorrow. You will be tried and found guilty as soon as you are brought back to Agharta in chains. I just came here because I wanted to see if you had been captured with my own eyes. I have no interest in interrogating you for information. I know that you are unlikely to tell us anything since you know that your life is forfeit now. All that I want to know is why you had to start this whole disastrous affair?”

Before Mara could reply to Sapphire, Isabella shouted at the High Priestess, “We wanted to be free of people like you, you damn hypocrite!”

Sapphire stood up and grabbed the back of Isabella’s head. She then slammed it into the table with surprising calm. Isabella’s mouth ran with blood. However, she did not continue her rant.

As Sapphire returned to her chair, Mara could see both weariness and fear in the former heroine’s fiery purple eyes. She was clearly tired of the war and knew that her side was probably going to lose.

Mara told Sapphire, “Yes, we wanted to be free to make our own decisions as a nation. However, the reveal of your church’s deceit and hypocrisy was what really caused this war. You lied to the people you wanted to lead and govern. Regardless of what happens to me now, your faith’s reputation has been destroyed worldwide. It is only a matter of time before you lose control of Terranor…”

Sapphire balled up her hands into fists that were blazing with purple fire. Tears seemed to be welling up in her eyes. The Greatest Traitor then told Mara, “I was the one who spread the lie in the first place. I thought that it was truly for the best at the time. Now, my life belongs to the United Church. My whole family is almost as committed as I am. My only child was raised in the faith and now serves it as I do, dammit! I will fight as long as live to keep the purple flame burning. There is no other choice for me after all that I have done.”

Mara could not help but actually feel a sudden wave of pity for her captor and enemy. This woman had once been the general she had followed into battle after all. She was desperately thinking of something to say. Was there some way to try and convince Sapphire to consider suing for peace, hopefully sparing Mara’s life in the process?

Sapphire then angrily mentioned the biggest problem with ending the war peacefully, “Woodstock will not stop until the United Church of God is wiped from this world! I will NOT let that man win!” Sapphire was standing up now, breathing heavily. She seemed to calm herself, she then asked Mara, “Your self-proclaimed spymaster is surprisingly resilient. I feel as though there is something… different about her. What could that be?”

Mara knew that she and Natalie would have to feign ignorance. Isabella’s life depended on it. As she nodded her head no and was about to say something, the door opened and someone stepped in.

Mara froze up when she realized that the new arrival was Kylana, the other surviving member of the UCG’s High Council. Kylana told Sapphire, “I think that our time here is up, we need to return to Agharta and oversee the completion of her defenses. I will fly us home as I flew us here. Sasha can handle things at this camp. She can always warp herself home if the need arises.”

Sapphire nodded and stood up. She then asked Kylana, “Before we go, I think there is something up with that Brunette girl. Her stature and resilience have surprised even me…”

Kylana looked over at Isabella and her eyes briefly flashed purple. She then balled up her fists, purple lighting crackling from them. Kylana turned to Mara and said, “The depths of your treachery know no bounds, don’t they? You will get a trial, ‘kangaroo court’ as it may be. The offspring of the vampire will get none.”

Isabella simply looked up and glared at Kylana, as the High Priestess raised a hand and began to charge up a beam of purple light.

Natalie nervously asked Kylana, “What are you doing?”

Mara knew exactly what was going on. It was something she had feared for years. She struggled against her chains and shouted, “NO!”

As Mara was about to try and stand up, Isabella looked over at her Lady and friend. Looking into the Winslow Heiress’s eyes, she told Mara, “Don’t try anything now. Just get free later and finish…”

Kylana dispassionately fired off her beam of purple light. The ray of energy sliced right into Isabella’s throat, leaving a smoking hole behind. Isabella’s head slumped over as her body went limp.

Kylana proudly declared, “God’s will be done. Let’s go, Sapphire.”

As Sapphire, who looked a bit unnerved by what she had just witnessed, stood up to follow Kylana out, Natalie stammered, “You murdered her in cold blood. She couldn’t defend herself…”

Sapphire told the elite guards and Wilhelm, “Get those two back to their cell. Dispose of the body when you can. We will be returning to the capital now.”

Mara and Natalie shakily stood up. Mara was speechless at first. However, she managed to shout one word at her slain friend’s murderer, “Kylana!”

The High Priestess looked back at Mara for a brief second. This gave Mara time to finish, “You WILL die for that.”

Kylana said nothing back to Mara. She and Sapphire then departed. The two elite guards, with help from Wilhelm, managed to haul the enraged Mara and the despondent Natalie back to their cell. The door to Isabella’s cell was closed without a prisoner to put back inside of it.

As Mara sat down on her cell’s bench next to Natalie, she looked the young mercenary in the eyes and told her, “I would still spare anyone among them if they asked for mercy. This war has still taken enough lives from both sides. However, Kylana I would not show mercy to. She practically is the United Church’s sins. She needs to die. As long as she lives, this war will never be truly over.”

Natalie simply nodded, she also seemed committed to the task of slaying the United Church’s draconic founder.


	27. The Battle of Plaincrest Camp

Unfortunately for Mara and Natalie, no rescue came for them that day. Mara was still doing her best to mentally process Isabella’s death. What she had feared ever since she had met Isabella had come true. Kylana had used the purple flame to murder Isabella in cold blood. How could the UCG’s god support such an action? Was the United Church really that similar to the Order of Light that they callously murdered those that their faith found unworthy of life? Mara did her best to not let the murder she had witnessed cloud her judgement. She then that if she and Natalie either escaped or were freed by allied forces, she would need to focus on ending the war. Kylana would pay with her life for what she did. Overthrowing the United Church would be the best way to make sure that Isabella had not died in vain.

Natalie and Mara were fed two meals that day. They were basic and not at all tasty. Mara had eaten plenty of luxurious food in her life thanks to her social status. The prison food was far from that. In fact, it was much worse than the military rations she had often had to eat during the wars she had fought in.

That night, Mara did her best to sleep. However, having to sleep in light armor and chains on a bed with no covers while fearing for her life and having just seen a close friend murdered was no easy task.

The next morning, Mara and Natalie woke up in their cell. They were fed breakfast soon after that. Mara did her best not to show it, but she was worried. No rescue had come yet and today was the day that the loyalist supply train was to arrive. Not only would the train be delivering more cannons to the Plaincrest Camp, it would be transporting Mara and Natalie to Agharta. There, Mara would immediately be put on trial. Sapphire Coril had basically told Mara that she would be sentenced to death. The trial would clearly be more for show than anything. Mara was legitimately afraid that she would never see her friends, fiancé and parents again.

As the early morning wore on, Mara was thinking over how she could possible try to defend herself in the event that she was put on trial in Agharta. The loyalists seemed to know that they would lose the war at this point. Did they just want to try and execute her as some final show of defiance? Were they still trying to convince themselves of the righteousness of their lost cause?

It was still pretty early in the morning when Mara started to hear noises that sounded like running footsteps, voices expressing panic and even gunfire. Natalie seemed to sit up a bit more as she heard the noises as well.

As the two prisoners looked over to each other, wondering what exactly what was going on, they saw the two elite guards from before running up to the door of their cell. One of the guards unlocked and opened the cell door, while the other drew her revolver and told Mara and Natalie, “On your feet, now!”

Mara and Natalie did as they were told. However, the noises seemed to be getting much closer.

As the pair of elite guards advanced into the cell, they suddenly stopped moving forward and began to look around. Natalie and Mara had both heard footsteps running up behind their guards, but had seen nobody. Natalie then smiled wickedly at the guards.

A tiger claw blade impaled each guard in the throat from behind. Captain Talia Fujiwhara appeared out of nowhere right as she delivered the killing blows to the hapless soldiers.

Talia rapidly picked up a guard’s key ring and ran over to Natalie. She said, “Looks like I got here just in time. The assault on this camp is in full swing. Sorry it took us this long, but we caught the loyalists off guard without their artillery.”

Mara told Talia, “I am just relieved to see you. I was honestly getting worried that we would be taken to Agharta for a bit.”

As Talia finished unlocking Natalie’s restraints and gave the keys to her, now unchained, apprentice for her to free Mara, Talia asked, “I saw Isabella getting captured as I had to flee the camp’s outskirts. Do you know where they are holding her?”

Natalie turned her eyes toward the floor, as she focused on unchaining Mara. After Mara’s cuffs and chains were all removed, she did a brief stretch to try and regain some feeling in her arms. The Winslow Heiress then looked over at Talia and was about to tell her what had happened. However, Victor and Sugaru rushed into view followed by a small unit of rebel infantry. Both men looked immensely relieved to see Mara alive. Sugaru rushed at Mara and the young couple embraced.

Mara told her fiancé, “I am so sorry that I didn’t come back to you…”

Sugaru quickly responded, “I’m just glad that we got you back. I cannot begin to tell you how worried I was.”

Natalie took the opportunity to hug Talia, who looked a bit awkward, but then put her arms around Natalie.

Victor asked, “So, where is Isabella? Talia said that she was captured along with the two of…”

Victor seemed to realize something. Mara, who was still in Sugaru’s arms, told everyone, “She’s dead. Kylana murdered her! She died defenseless in chains…”

Talia and Natalie disengaged their hug. The War Tiger Captain then suddenly slammed her, leather-clad, fist into a nearby wall. Victor’s hands were engulfed in arcane fire as he said, “We will avenge her death in that case. That’s all she would have wanted from us.”

After her brief moment of surprisingly intense anger, Talia’s face took on a more stoic look. She announced, “I saw the place where they were storing prisoner’s equipment. We should dash over there and get your weapons back. Nat will go with me to meet up with our company’s main force. We have been ordered by Antonio Woodstock to flank around the camp and stop any enemies from escaping to Agharta by taking control of the train station.”

Natalie saluted Talia. Mara nodded and then disengaged her loving embrace with her betrothed. The rebels then rushed over to the confiscated equipment storage room where they recovered Mara and Natalie’s weapons.

Victor then told Mara, as Talia and Natalie rushed off to join their forces, “We should be trying to reach the town hall. We believe that that is where the loyalist command center is located. Once we capture that building, the enemy forces here will be leaderless and their cohesion will fall apart.”

As Mara was loading up her firearms, she told Victor, “The commander here is Sasha Cordwin, General Coril’s younger sister. We take her down, we take this town!”

Victor nodded and replied, “She is quite the veteran arcanist, we will need to be careful. Still, taking her out of the picture will deny the loyalists access to one of their most experienced mages.”

Sugaru nodded in agreement with Victor. Then, the small rebel squad made their way out of the prison and out into the streets of Plaincrest.

What had once been a small farming town had turned into a warzone. The two rebel airships were closing in on the camp from above and raining projectiles down on the loyalist defenders. Rebel soldiers, including two ice giants, were pushing their way deeper into town, aiming to wipe out the camp’s forces altogether. It was still early morning. The rebel army must have begun their offensive at dawn and caught the loyalist troops off guard. The assault was going all according to Antonio Woodstock’s plan.

As Mara saw a pair of Fadalian fire breather dragons strafe some loyalist dwarves with their flaming breath, she began to lead her small unit towards the frontlines of the chaotic battle. Sugaru was carrying their map of the town. He did his best to direct the unit toward the town hall as they picked up a few more scattered rebel soldiers.

As the rebel unit attempted to sneak past the enemy’s defenses in order to reach the town hall, Mara had a sad thought, she sighed, “It just occurred to me that with Isabella gone, we will have to tell Nalia when we return to Narvograd.”

Sugaru simply looked confused as Victor explained, “Nalia is one of Lord Winslow’s prize Malamute dogs. She really enjoyed Isabella’s company. Due to her heritage, we were never sure why.”

Mara clenched her fists. She said, “I’m not sure what we will tell Nalia. However, I will give her a big hug for Isabella when we get back home. I am going to end this war for my friend, even if it’s not in the way she would have wanted it to end.”

At that point, the advancing rebel squad saw a trio of loyalist light infantry turning a corner and rushing towards them with weapons drawn. Mara aimed her shotgun without hesitation and fired off a spread that downed two of them in one shot.

The third loyalist soldier tried to run back around the corner she and her comrades had come out from. However, Victor shot her in the back of the head with his revolver. The rebel unit continued their advance without saying anything. They had a town hall to seize.

After dispatching a few more scattered loyalist troops, Mara and her allies broke out into an open town square. They saw loyalist units facing away from them defending the square against rebel squads that were out of their view.

As Mara looked around the square, she saw the town hall. Standing on its front steps was Wilhelm Creek, who was leading a unit of around eight loyalist soldiers.

When Wilhelm saw that the rebels had broken through his allies’ formations, he locked eyes with Mara and told her, “Yes I know, Lieutenant, our god is not coming to save us. Divine intervention may be in short supply these days. Still, as long as the purple flame empowers our priesthood, we will not give in! I will stand and fight for my faith, no matter the cost!”

Mara simply nodded back at Wilhelm. She told him, “Sadly, I would expect no less. I am sorry…”

As the soldiers on both sides rushed in to engage each other, the doors to the town hall flew open, revealing Sasha Cordwin in her loyalist arcanist’s uniform. The sorceress major’s hands crackled with lightning as she shouted, “After all that we’ve done, I will not give in either. I will not let my big sister down! I have given my all for her vision and I am not about to compromise it now!”

Sasha fired off a massive lightning strike at Mara, shouting, “I guess we will have to skip the trial and go straight to the execution!”

Mara’s combat training kicked in as she dodged the enormous blast of electricity with uncanny speed. The gigantic lightning bolt severely charred the wall of a nearby house.

After standing back up straight, Mara shouted, “Advance! We need to close with Cordwin and shut down her spellcasting!”

Victor detonated an inferno burst over a number of loyalist soldiers trying to hold off an advancing rebel unit and then followed Mara forward. Sugaru summoned up his red rays of energy and used them to take down a pair of loyalist snipers taking aim from the town hall’s upper floor windows.

Mara used her shotgun to blast a loyalist infantryman who had been charging right for her and then pumped it quickly. She then continued to make a beeline for Sasha. She intended to bring down the enemy commander in the hopes that that would end the battle quickly.

Wilhelm advanced into position to block Mara’s charge with his warhammer and shield ready. Sasha projected a two-layer force shield around herself after a rebel bullet narrowly missed her. 

As Mara neared him, Wilhelm whirled around to block a sniper rifle round with his reinforced steel shield. Mara noticed Mia Buraig advancing into the square with James and Bradley covering her. A unit of six loyalist light infantry soldiers was suddenly obliterated as Antonio and Sandra Woodstock charged into them with their greatswords. Victor’s inferno burst had clearly helped the other rebels push into the square.

Wilhelm tried to switch out his Warhammer for his revolver, so that he could fire back at Mia. However, Mara blasted him with her shotgun.

As Wilhelm recoiled back, Victor projected two rays of fire into his former ally. One shot blasted Wilhelm’s weapon arm. The second ray nailed him in the side of the head, dropping and killing the loyalist Sergeant.

Mara had no time to feel any regrets. She refocused her attention on Sasha and saw that the loyalist sorceress was taking aim at Mara’s allies behind her, her hands erupting with electricity.

Sugaru shouted, “Not so fast!” He then fired off a beam of sparkling magical energy. A shower of energy sparks erupted from the beam and Sasha’s spell dissipated before she could cast it.

A rebel firing line of five soldiers with bolt-action rifles had formed to protect Victor and Sugaru. The soldiers blew away the first layer of Sasha’s force shield and slightly damaged the second with a small hail of bullets.

Sasha glared at Sugaru, she then looked around and saw that her soldiers were being routed across the square. Antonio and Sandra were carving through the remaining loyalists in the area. Their soldiers supporting them from behind with gun fire and spells.

James and Bradley were advancing into the square with Mia right behind them. As Mara began to ascend the stairs, Mia shouted, “I’ve got you covered, Mara!” The rebel ace sniper then fired a bullet into Sasha’s force shield that completely shattered it.

Sasha ordered, “All units retreat!” She began to back away rapidly as rebel gunfire flew past her. She then looked over at Mara and told her, “You know what they say. Discretion is the better part of valor.”

As Sasha’s body began to glow with a green light, Sugaru shouted, “She is going to try and warp away!”

Mara, who had pumped her shotgun in preparation, shouted, “No possible way am I letting that happen!” As Sasha began to be consumed in a beam of green light pointing upwards into the sky, Mara fired a spread of buckshot right into Sasha’s chest.

The spread of shot sliced right through Sasha’s spell energy and defensive magical items. The high-velocity pellets impacted her unarmored body and tore into her chest.

As her green light rapidly faded away and her soldiers turned tail and ran, Major Sasha Cordwin collapsed to her knees. Blood ran from her wounds and her mouth.

Tears seemed to streak from the fallen arcanist’s eyes as Mara approached her. Sasha did not notice Mara anymore. She simply mumbled, “Sapphire… you were supposed to protect me… You always said that you would protect me…Why weren’t you here when…”

Sasha then collapsed, face-first, onto the ground. She stopped breathing seconds after. Mara simply looked down at her victim with something resembling pity. Today, Terranor had lost one of its premier sorcerers. Mara knew that killing someone close to Sapphire Coril was not going to bring Isabella back. Besides, Kylana was Isabella’s killer, not Sapphire.

Victor walked up next to Mara, along with Sugaru. Their rebel allies were focused on chasing the surviving loyalists right into the train station where the War Tigers would be waiting.

Victor sighed and shouted, “Damnit! I took one of her classes back when I was studying at the Agharta Academy of Magic… General Coril is going to be seriously pissed off now…”

Mara simply replied, “Let’s go and regroup. I need to change out of this armor and get bathed. Once this town is secure, we can move in the long-range cannons from Fabasu and prepare for the final push. Agharta stands practically alone now.”

Sugaru put his arm around Mara. The trio of rebels stood together in front of Sasha’s corpse for a few minutes, almost as if to honor a worthy opponent. After that, they went to meet up with their allies and verify that the loyalists were abandoning the Plaincrest Camp. With any luck, Agharta would fall within the next month. Mara was growing weary of the war. She had lost one close friend to it already. She did not want to lose any others.


	28. Operation Ragnarok

The loyalists in Plaincrest were mostly wiped out as the battle for the town concluded. The War Tigers successfully captured the town’s train station. The loss of the train station forced the remaining loyalists had to flee on foot. The survivors apparently later linked up with the supply train that was intended to deliver new artillery pieces. The train had had to transport the stragglers back to Agharta, instead of delivering supplies and munitions to Plaincrest. The loyalists sent out engineer teams to destroy most of the railway linking Plaincrest with Agharta after the train returned to its station in the capital city.

In the two weeks that followed the capture of the Plaincrest Camp, the Second Rebellion made a concerted effort to move most of their main army into the base. Thousands of rebels came to be based in and around the former farming town.

Despite the destruction of the rail bridge having cut off rail travel between Fabasu and Plaincrest, the rebels were able to transport their secret weapons to their new base. The newly-developed long-range heavy artillery pieces were shipped in via airships and wheeled over drawn behind teams of horses. The rebels were focused on making sure that their main army was well situated and supplied for what could be their final operation, the assault on Agharta.

The rebel navy, commanded by Christopher Hooper who had recently accepted a promotion to the rank of Admiral, had been growing in size. This was thanks in major part to the workers in Narvograd’s shipyards. The rebel fleet had been slowly and steadily making its way south, destroying all loyalist ships sent from Ruvia that had tried to stop them. They were closing in on Playamar Port. Rebel intelligence maintained that the largest loyalist force outside of Agharta was based in the port city. The rebel navy stood ready to bombard and blockade Playamar’s harbor as soon as they were ordered to.

Seeing as though the rebel forces had circumnavigated it, the loyalist army had abandoned Heaven’s Spire soon after the rebels took Plaincrest. Most of the loyalist forces based in Cavernhold had been transferred to either Agharta or Playamar. However, it was believed that the number of loyalist military personnel in Agharta numbered no more than around one-thousand. The loyalists would have the defensive advantage from the capital’s old walls, they also knew the local terrain better. However, many rebels knew the Terranoran capital city well themselves. Mara and Victor had stayed there for months during their respective educations before the war with Imperial Eulidia had broken out.

Now, the Terranoran Continent’s greatest metropolis faced the threat of invasion for the first time in over a century and a quarter. The rebels knew that autumn was wearing on. They were not about to let winter come before they captured the capital. The time to end the war and the United Church of God’s reign was nearing. The rebel army’s new units of long-range artillery were positioned just east of Plaincrest. The big guns were kept well-defended round the clock. The bombardment of Agharta would begin as soon as the order was given.

Two weeks after the seizure of Plaincrest, Antonio Woodstock called a meeting of all available rebel officers in the former Plaincrest Town Hall. In a large room paneled by light-brown wood and with a large war placed table at the center, over thirty rebel commanders met to hear the former Knight Captain’s plan for taking the capital.

Antonio looked over the map of the region placed on the war table. Rebel and Loyalist units’ positions were marked with a series of pins and miniatures. It seemed as though the rebels outnumbered the loyalists in Agharta. However, their enemies still had a defensive advantage. Also, two members of the United Church’s High Council were still alive. They could prove dangerous wildcards in the battle to come.

Mara, who was standing next to Sugaru, Talia and Victor, looked around the room. She was impressed at the diversity of the Second Rebellion’s leadership in terms of species, sex, age and regional origin. As the recognized military leader of the Second Rebellion, Antonio began, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered here today to begin the end of the self-proclaimed United Church of God. Our enemy’s god has not come down, or sent an army, to save their faith. They stand alone against the tide of history. We are poised to commence _Operation Ragnarok. _The goal of this operation is to capture Agharta and force the enemy’s Loyalist Army to surrender control of the Domain of Terranor. Those provinces that wish to secede can leave and those that wish to stay and be part of the formation of a new continental government can do so as well.”

Antonio took a quick breath and continued, “The plan is simple enough. For the next week beginning today, Alfonso Vargas, who has graciously arrived here to command our artillery units, will have his long-range cannons bombard Agharta around the clock. Our objectives in bombarding the capital so heavily include: weakening the city’s walls, destroying enemy artillery, killing enemy personnel and weakening enemy morale. We want the loyalists to believe that their end is upon them…because it is.”

Sandra added, “That said, we are mostly dealing with fanatics at this point. Those who still fight for the United Church are doing so out of blind faith of one kind or another. I don’t know how many desertions and defections we will inspire with our barrage at this point. Regardless, we want our bombardment to be accurate, so we will use our airborne units as spotters for our artillery. Our hope is that by the end of the week, those defending the capital will be so battered and weary that our main force can march on the city and capture it with the maximum possible chance of success.”

Antonio finished, “I will have a series of documents with marching orders for each of our units ready by the time that we are ready to advance on the capital. We have fought hard and sacrificed quite a bit for this moment, everyone. Now, we have to finish this war and make sure that freedom rings across this land. We will end the cycle that the United Church started. Without theocracy, without religion, liberty will flourish!”

Mara could not but remain concerned by Antonio’s closing statement. She knew that he intended to wipe out the UCG for good. However, she also knew that if he attempted that, the war would be more likely to drag on for long after Agharta was seized. If the rebels intended to eradicate the United Church entirely, even once they were clearly defeated, Mara would have to consider withdrawing Bakarian forces from the rebel armies. She would declare Bakaria independent and return home to Narvograd, rather than fight a war of extermination. Of course, the death of Kylana also mattered deeply to Mara. The dragoness cleric needed to pay with her life for Isabella’s murder. That was something that the Winslow Heiress would not compromise on.

As the rebel officers were being dismissed, Mara could only hope that the rebels would force the enemy’s surrender after taking Agharta. History would be written by the victors. The United Church’s heroic reputation had been demolished. Mara believed that the removal of the religion from power and the formal dissolution of the Domain of Terranor as it had previously existed would be punishment enough. As long as Kylana died, Mara would be fine with the rest of the Loyalist Army surviving the war. Enough lives had been lost already and Mara still bore some heavy guilt for the beginning of the destructive conflict. Regardless of whether or not she bore responsibility for the war’s beginning, she would be there to finish it.

Starting later that day, the rebels’ new long-range cannons began to open fire on Agharta. The bombardment continued for the next week as new shipments of high-impact shells continued to arrive in Plaincrest. A small fleet of cargo airships built in Heideldorf’s factories had been helping the rebels move war material around their various holdings. Those aircraft proved vital to the transport of munitions and personnel to Plaincrest. This was especially true considering that Plaincrest was currently cut off from the rest of rebel territory by rail.

At the end of the week of bombardment, reports from aerial spotter units indicated that Agharta’s walls, artillery defenses, and interior buildings had suffered extensive damage. Many shells had missed the capital, or hit inconsequential targets. However, the metropolis, especially its western districts, had been softened up considerably. Loyalist causalities likely numbered in the hundreds at least Many, if not most, of those causalities were civilians. Mara had become more and more concerned that Antonio Woodstock did not care. He knew that pretty much anyone left in Agharta was still a follower of the United Church of God.

The rebel army marched on Agharta one week from the beginning of the bombardment. Soon after they departed for the capital, their long-range guns finally fell silent. When the rebel army was mere hours from Agharta’s gates. Sandra Woodstock came up to Mara, who had been preparing her weapons for the final offensive. The former Vice-Captain was clearly confused. She held up a piece of paper and told Mara, “Antonio just disappeared from camp! He left me this note. I thought that I should show it to you, I don’t know who else to turn to.”

Sandra gave Mara the note. Mara looked down at it and read, “Sandra… I want you and Mara to lead our armies to the enemy gates on schedule. I have just received an intelligence report that High Priestess Kylana and her entourage left the city by train for an unknown location two days ago. I believe that that means that our former General is the strongest enemy left in Agharta. I am going to take her down so as to maximize our chances of taking the capital with minimal losses. Wish me luck, my love. Know that I am doing this to protect our soldiers and you. With any luck, the Greatest Traitor dies today…. Love, Antonio Brown Woodstock.”

Mara was not as surprised as she could have been. She knew her former Captain enough to know that he would believe he was the rebels best chance at killing Sapphire Coril. She told Sandra, “Maybe he knew some secret way into the capital? I would have cautioned him against the course of action that he took. However, he did not consult me beforehand. Regardless, we better rally the troops according to his orders. Today, we can end this war.”

Sandra nodded and told Mara, “We will find out where the murderess Kylana went once we capture Agharta. For now, I guess that I have to put my faith in my husband, as I always have….”

Mara noticed that something seemed amiss with Sandra. She asked, “Are you ok. Maybe it’s just that you are worried about…”

Sandra interjected, “I know that it means I should not be fighting… but…well… I’m pregnant. My child, our child, is still very early stages of development. That’s why it’s not immediately noticeable. Still, I want my baby to meet his or her father. I want Antonio to come back to me… and our dogs back in Narvograd. I just hope that he knows what he is doing.”

Mara was almost completely dumbfounded as Sandra turned to leave. The Woodstocks certainly were strange people. She sighed and then finished getting her combat gear ready. After that, she went to go find Sugaru, Victor, Talia and Natalie. They had a war to win. Hunting down Kylana would have to wait.


	29. Duel of the Heroes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should note here that the title of this chapter refers more to the perception of the primary characters involved as heroes by their allies and followers than their actual narrative status. Hopefully, you will get what I mean as you read the chapter. 
> 
> Also, I just wanted to say thank you to anyone who has gotten this far reading through this story. Only four chapters left to be posted now!

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For the last week, life for the remaining inhabitants of Agharta had been a living hell. Around two weeks after the rebel seizure of the Plaincrest Camp, a near-constant bombardment of long-range artillery shells had begun to pelt the continental capital. It was only less than a day ago that the long-distance onslaught had stopped.

The city’s outer walls, especially on the western side, had been severely damaged. Workers had been doing their best round-the-clock to keep the western section of the walls from collapsing completely. A number of the city’s western districts inside of the walls had been reduced to rubble, or were close to that state. Multiple loyalist artillery batteries, both on and behind the capital’s walls, had been struck and wiped out by the rain of high-explosive shells. Houses, churches, storefronts, military and police buildings, warehouses and more had been heavily damaged or destroyed by the rain of fire.

As the person in command of Agharta’s defenses, Sapphire Coril had suffered through what might have been the worst week of her life. Of all that she had experienced, only the realization of the Order of Light’s evil came close to watching the devastation, barely able to alleviate it.

The loyalists had tried returning fire with their own cannons. However, it was clear that the rebels had been supplied with a new type of heavy artillery by Vargas Technologies. The loyalist guns had been unable to hit the captured town of Plaincrest without risking exposing their forces by moving them outside of the city walls. The defenders in Agharta had known that the rebels were using airships and dragons as spotter units for their artillery. However, they had been unable to mount any successful attacks on the rebel’s airborne units either.

The priesthood of the United Church of God that remained in Agharta had done their best to heal injured survivor’s wounds, and inspire the populace to not give up hope. However, the fact that celestial aid had not arrived to help put down the rebellion made their sermons ring hollow. Despite having ordered all of their soldiers stationed in Heaven’s Spire transferred to Agharta, as well as multiple units from Cavernhold, the Loyalist Army was in terrible shape. They had taken so many losses from the seemingly unending artillery strikes and earlier defeats, that it was believed the rebel armies massed in Plaincrest severely outnumbered them. Sapphire had considered marching her forces out to assault Plaincrest. However, she knew that it would be a suicide mission that would also leave Agharta nearly defenseless.

Morale among those who remained in the capital was at an all-time low. Hundreds of civilians had fled the city by whatever means they could in the days after the artillery strikes had begun. Those that had refused to leave had paid for it dearly, as lives and property were lost at an astounding rate. Despite the risk of execution if they were caught, dozens, if not more, loyalist soldiers had deserted and fled the capital themselves. Even multiple high-ranking officers had snuck out of the city. Nobody knew where they were heading. However, they clearly did not intend to keep fighting the rebels. It was believed that many guards on the walls could not bring themselves to shoot fleeing deserters, even ones still in uniform. They did not blame them for fleeing such dire circumstances.

To Sapphire, the worst of it was that seditious rumors were starting to circulate among those remaining in Agharta. Some claimed that the rebel armies’ impending victory was actually some sort of divine retribution against the United Church, possibly brought down by their own god. Rumors also circulated that Antonio Woodstock was some kind of monster of immense and unnatural power and charisma wearing human skin. Some even wondered if he was an actual god of war.

Before the bombardment had even begun, Sapphire had been forced to realize that her little sister Sasha was most likely dead. She had not returned from the Plaincrest Camp. If Sasha had been captured alive by the rebels, then they would have sent some sort of a message. They would have demanded something in exchange for her safety. Yet, no news regarding Sasha’s whereabouts had arrived. The fact that her younger sister was almost certainly no longer among the living had both damaged Sapphire’s morale further and increased her determination to resist the rebels at any personal cost.

Sapphire had done her best to persuade Kylana to stay in Agharta and help fight the inevitable rebel invasion of the city. However, the draconic High Priestess had given up hope that Agharta could be defended. She had left on a train to Playamar, Sapphire’s former hometown. Kylana was determined to carry out her plan to gather most of the remaining UCG faithful in Playamar and then escape by sea to a foreign continent.

Now, Sapphire stood, alone, in front of something she had hoped never to see. The smoldering ruins of the Coril Family’s Agharta home. Mere hours before the bombardment had finally ceased, two shells had struck the building while Sapphire was at the Prime Church. Sapphire had bravely gone inside herself when she got the news. She had not cared much for the material possessions inside of the house. She had been trying to save Phineas Coril, her husband. Phineas had stayed in Agharta throughout the war. He had been doing his best to manage the family’s business operations from his home and the shipping company’s Agharta office. However, he had been home when the artillery shells had struck.

During the battle of Heaven’s Spire in late 1760, Phineas had lost a leg to an enemy cannonball. He had survived and his leg had been replaced through a divine ritual conducted by the UCG’s early clerics. This time, he was not so lucky. Sapphire had found what was left of his body. She had not been able to recover it before the burning building had become too unstable to stay inside for long. Healing magic as powerful as hers could restore someone on death’s door to full health. However, even Sapphire knew of no means by which the soul of a dead person could be returned to its body.

Sapphire had finished crying around an hour ago. She was still standing outside of the destroyed building she had once called home. Her subordinates were giving her a wide berth. For the moment, Sapphire was alone. She was standing in an empty street. She was not sure what she would tell her daughter Sheila. Her child had lost her aunt and her father in the span of less than a month. Sapphire was devastated by all that she had lost. However, being herself, she knew that there was only one thing she could do now. Try to hold the capital city against the rebels and take as many of them down as she could once they arrived.

Sapphire stood quietly, wearing her armored military uniform, her weapons and shield at her belt. Purple fires continued to blaze around her fists and in her eyes. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. She had ordered her soldiers in the area not to disturb her. Also, the footfalls were certainly too heavy to be Sheila’s.

Sapphire angrily asked, “Who’s there? I said I needed to be alone…”

An all too familiar male voice responded, “Hello, General. I guess I was always shit at the stealthy stuff, wasn’t I?”

Sapphire grinned. Somehow, the perfect person for her to take out her anger on had arrived. Agharta and the United Church seemed to have hope again.

The light elven High Priestess rapidly readied her sword and shield and turned to face Antonio Brown Woodstock. Somehow, the ex-Knight Captain had infiltrated the city. He had likely used some of the old tunnels, killing any guards who had gotten in his way. The rebel leader had drawn his enormous greatsword _Fury_ and was standing ready for a fight.

Surprising her enemy, Sapphire’s first move was to summon a series of barriers of purple fire in a ring around herself and her opponent. She did not want anyone else to interrupt the duel. They could get hurt or killed. Besides, this was her fight and she would relish it indeed.

Antonio charged at Sapphire as she called out, “You came to kill me, didn’t’ you! You are as brave as ever. However, I won’t be such an easy mark!”

Antonio swung his immense blade at Sapphire, grinning the whole time. She blocked the massive sword using her sword and shield together in concert. Antonio, who was still grinning, declared, “I will kill you, General! Your faith will fall…”

Sapphire retorted, “Kylana will escape this continent, even if your army takes Agharta! The United Church will live on!”

Antonio and Sapphire rapidly exchanged blows. As the two veteran commanders dueled, Sapphire realized that her enemy was attacking at a high speed to both wear her down and stop her from easily casting any spells.

Antonio smiled wickedly and locked blades with Sapphire again. He declared, “Kylana escaping will only delay the inevitable! You see, Terranor is only the beginning of my plans. Once the UCG is in ruins, I will lead a new crusade to liberate this whole planet! Austean will become a world where freedom truly rings!”

In that moment, Sapphire fully realized what she had suspected for years. Antonio Woodstock was a man without mercy for anyone who stood in the way of his goals. He relished war as the only way to truly bring about social change. She shot back, “Liberate from who? And at what cost?”

Antonio grinned again and replied, as the dueling combatants pushed against each other, “I have come to see the truth and it has set me free! Faith is tyranny! It always was! I will destroy public faith and that will bring about universal liberty! As for the cost, I don’t care if I have to wipe out every religious person myself. The good for those who remain will outweigh the suffering and deaths of the oppressors!”

Sapphire saw her enemy starting to pull back his sword, she then leapt back away from him, evading his swing and putting some distance between the two soldiers. Sapphire wondered if her nemesis had told his allies of his plans. Maybe he had kept a secret for once in his life? She then called out, “That was why you ordered the bombardment of this city. You really don’t care how many people suffer and die on the way. For you, the ends justify the means.”

Antonio lunged at Sapphire. As he did, he responded, “Maybe so, but it’s not like you are any different!”

Sapphire screamed, “Shut up, you monster!” She backed away as Antonio came flying at her. She stretched out her sword and summoned a series of explosions of purple light that wracked _Fury_. The purple explosions tore the massive greatsword to bits.

Antonio landed on his feet and reached for his heavy revolver. He shouted, “Well played, but this is still not over.”

Antonio raised his sidearm. However, Sapphire sheathed her sword in purple flames. Her magically-enhanced steel shield deflected a series of bullets from Antonio’s revolver as she charged him.

As Antonio began to back up, Sapphire accelerated forward in a burst of purple fire. As Antonio tried to take aim with his pistol again, she impaled her burning sword right into his chest. She smiled and said, “I think that it is over. Goodbye, ‘Avenging Blade.’ Your reign of terror ends here.”

As heavily-magically enhanced and state of the art as Antonio Woodstock’s armor was, it was penetrated by Sapphire’s decades-old enchanted sword. The rebel leader’s heart was pierced by the single mighty strike Sapphire delivered.

As blood ran from Antonio’s mouth and chest, he looked up into the sky and laughed. He soon dropped his revolver as his arm went limp. His last words were, “Sandra… finish this for me, baby. Kill them all… Free this world, my home… our home…”

Sapphire withdrew her blade from her slain archenemy’s body. As she dispelled her wall of purple flames, she smiled and remarked, “I guess even he was only a mortal man after all. It just took a worthy opponent to bring an end to him.”

Suddenly, Sapphire heard Sheila’s voice calling out, “Mom!”

Sapphire turned to see her daughter in her full Loyalist Army Uniform running towards her with tears streaking down her face. Captain Eric Ewdrick was running up to Sapphire right behind Sheila.

Sapphire put away her sword and shield. She then embraced her daughter when she arrived. As the two women held each other tightly, Sheila tearfully said, “Mom, I heard everything. About dad… He’s really gone, isn’t he?”

Sapphire simply nodded yes. She told Sheila and Eric, “Antonio Woodstock snuck into this city. He was trying to assassinate me. However, I rid the world of his evil….”

Eric interjected, “Ma’am, I hate to say this now of all times, but the enemy army is closing in on what remains of the main western gate. We need to ready our units and prepare to defend Agharta. They will be here in around two hours at this rate!”

Sapphire disengaged her embrace with Sheila. She then put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. She told Eric, “I want you to ready our main force to join me just outside what remains of the city walls. We will commence _Operation Midgard_, the defense of this great city. Eric, I want you to command our reserve forces just inside the walls.”

Eric saluted Sapphire, who told her daughter, “Sheila. I want you to stay with Eric and help with any necessary healing. …I also have a more difficult request.”

Sheila tearfully asked her mother, “What? What do you need me to do? Whatever it is, just tell me.”

Sapphire sighed deeply and told Sheila and Eric, “If the rebels breach Agharta’s defenses. Especially if I am killed in action, I want you two to call a ceasefire and surrender the city. With their most bloodthirsty warmonger of a leader dead, I just hope that most rebels will simply want there to be peace on Terranor by now.”

Eric quickly pointed out, “I guess that we will do what the Eulidians did. We will surrender while we can still dictate conditions. That condition can be the United Church being allowed to continue legally existing.”

Sheila grabbed her mother’s shoulders and asked her, “If we are probably going to surrender anyway, why can’t we just surrender now? You don’t have to die mom!”

Sapphire told her daughter, tears in her eyes again, “Some people could simply surrender and hope that the enemy will be merciful. I am not one of them. I have never been. Eric, have two strong soldiers grab the former Knight-Captain’s body and follow me with it. Also, fashion a good and large white flag. If I am successful, you will not need it. Still, I know my odds are not great…”

Eric saluted Sapphire and moved to begin carrying out her orders. Sheila simply stood there as her mother began to walk away. Sapphire sighed and turned around to face Sheila. She told her only child, “I love you, Sheila. I am very proud of you and so were your father and your aunt. I cannot lose you to this war like I lost them. The final thing I must ask of you is to stay safe with Eric. Goodbye…”

With that, Sapphire walked away to rally her forces for what was likely to be their last stand.


	30. Fall of the Traitor

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The armies of the Second Rebellion were closing on the heavily battered western walls of Agharta. Antonio Woodstock had not returned from his mission to assassinate High Priestess Sapphire Coril. However, the rebels continued their rapid advance toward the main western gate of the loyalist-held continental capital. In truth, none of Antonio’s rebel allies had known the full extent of his agenda. Not even his wife Sandra had been fully informed of his plan to “liberate” the entirety of civilized Austean starting with Terranor. Despite his reputation for honesty, that was the one secret the former Knight Captain had kept. 

Mara Winslow was scanning the upper decks of the western wall with her binoculars. The capital’s defenses had been severely weakened. Massive chunks of wall were missing and the main western gate was barely intact. She saw loyalist soldiers preparing to man what few defensive potions atop the walls had survived the rebels week-long shelling of the city. However, two military airships and a trio of Fadalian fire breather dragons were flying above the massed force of rebel infantry. They had been given orders to focus on the loyalist defenders atop the walls first and foremost.

Much of the plains and farmland directly to the west of the city had been blasted into near-oblivion. Much of the land the rebel armies had been crossing over had been defoliated. There was little underbrush left. A verdant and expansive forest still stood to the south. However, it only remained because the rebels had agreed to not interfere with the domain of the forest’s druidic guardians. In exchange, the druids had agreed not to interfere with the battle on behalf of either side.

As the rebels advanced forward, their force numbering over two-thousand soldiers, they saw the massive western gate of Agharta opening up. Hundreds of Loyalist Army soldiers poured out to defend the capital. However, it was easy for Mara to see that they were beleaguered and weary compared to the rebel forces.

As the loyalist troops scrambled to assemble and maintain their lines. Mara looked over her own forces. Humans, elves, orcs, goblins, kobolds, mountainfolk, feloids, a few giants and some trained vargs made up the rebel armies. All of these people, whether they were mercenaries or volunteers, had come together to overthrow the current Domain of Terranor. Very few dwarves had sided with the Second Rebellion. However, they made up a significant portion of what remained of the Loyalist Army. Humans, deep elves, hobgoblins, some kobolds and feloids and a scant few flame giants made up the rest of the loyalist forces.

Mara was standing near the center of the massive rebel formation. Right behind her were Victor and Sugaru. Nearby her were Sandra, James, Bradley, Mia, Talia and Natalie, among other rebel soldiers and officers. War Tiger Quartermaster Oliver Forrester was in the rear ranks of the rebel formation. Having proven themselves to be a key part of the rebel forces since the first major battle of the war, the War Tigers were likely to be paid significantly from both Bakarian funds and money looted from the loyalists. With any luck, the Domain’s treasury in Agharta would still be intact and ready to be looted to help pay rebel soldiers and their allied mercenaries for their brave service.

As Mara saw the enemy forces gathering in front of the damaged western walls, she thought back to how she had gotten to this climactic moment. This entire war had begun as an aftereffect of her wanting Bakarian independence. This had never been what she had wanted to happen as a consequence of her pursuing her dream. However, now that the war was nearly over, Mara intended to finish off the current Domain. After that, she intended to hunt down and kill Kylana. Mara knew that Isabella had believed in her dream from the beginning. She was not about to let her murdered friend down. The United Church would lose its authority and Bakaria would secede along with her willing northern neighbors. Mara was going to make sure of it.

Mara then heard Victor mention, “It has been a while since I was in Agharta. I wish we were here under better circumstances.”

Sugaru added, “I honestly wish that I could have visited the great metropolis of Terranor during peacetime myself. Our artillery bombardment has most likely ruined much of the city. Especially the western districts. Still, I have followed my beloved this far, I will stand by her as we finish this war.”

Mara smiled back at Sugaru and pointed out, “Kylana is still out there. You know that I will not stop until she is slain.”

Talia chimed in, “I have to agree with Lady Mara. I want Isabella’s killer to pay for her crime. I was getting to like our spymaster quite a bit. She did not deserve to go out the way that she did. Regardless, we need to focus on the task at hand. Once we capture Agharta, we can focus on tracking down Kylana.”

Mara nodded as she heard Mia calling out, “Enemy commander spotted! It’s Sapphire Coril alright. …There are two dwarven soldiers following her. They are carrying what looks like a dead body… oh shit!”

Mara looked through her binoculars at the center of the enemy formation as the two armies continued to close in on each other. She saw a battle-ready Sapphire C. Coril standing next to a pair of dwarven elites. The two dwarves were indeed carrying a corpse wearing a rebel heavy infantry uniform. They dropped the corpse on the ground and then readied their axes and shields. It did not take Mara long to realize that it was the corpse of Antonio Woodstock. Somehow, the loyalists had defeated and slain the rebel commander. Sapphire Coril was likely the person responsible for killing Antonio, considering her skill at arms and her magical prowess.

With her voice likely amplified by a basic spell of some kind, Sapphire called out, pointing to the corpse nearby her, “Is this your champion? Your dear leader? This murderous lunatic? You all have no shame, you traitorous, ungrateful bastards! I will not allow the great city of Agharta to fall to you scum!”

Sandra had grabbed a pair of binoculars from a nearby rebel officer. After seeing for herself who Sapphire Coril had been talking about, she put down the binoculars and let out an unearthly scream of hatred and anguish. Sandra immediately drew her greatsword from her back and began to charge right at Sapphire. The words Mara could make out from Sandra were simply, “I’ll kill you!” She was screaming those three words repeatedly as she advanced on her former General.

Mara got a hold of herself and drew her rapier and revolver. She pointed her rapier forward in a dramatic gesture. At the top of her lungs, she shouted, “All units, advance! Defeat the Loyalist Army while the Western Gate is still open and claim the capital!”

The rebel armies began to surge forward. Their enemies did the same. The rebel’s aerial units began to attack the scattered loyalist snipers and cannons positioned atop the western wall. Bullets and spells began to fly from both sides as the two armies rushed to meet. This battle would likely decide the fate of Terranoran civilization.

Victor conjured up a force shield around himself as he advanced behind Mara. As the rebel army closed in on the loyalist defense force, he said, “Coril really did the Captain in, didn’t she? …What are we possibly going to tell Trixie and Maisy?”

As Mara began to open fire on the loyalist frontlines with her revolver, she thought, “We really will have to give a lot of dogs comforting hugs after this…”

As Mara was refocusing herself, she saw Sapphire beginning to conjure up a series of orbs above her head. The spheres coursed with purple fire. It was the same spell that she had cast in the final battle with the Eulidians. However, this time Mara’s forces were about to be on the receiving end of the magical barrage.

Victor shouted, “She is casting dimensional storm! That could wipe out the center of our formation!”

Sugaru called out, “I expected her to summon something big and flashy. I would have expected no less from such a vaunted opponent! Thankfully, I came prepared!”

Sugaru, clearly straining himself immensely, blasted the area around Sapphire with a shower of clear magical sparks. The shower dismissed the orbs of purple fire and prevented Sapphire from summoning more.

Mara called back, as she reloaded her pistol, “Nice one baby! Now, let’s close in before she can try that again!”

As Sandra began carving her way through some of Sapphire’s dwarven subordinates with James and other rebel soldiers right behind her, Talia ordered, “War Tigers, follow me! We will cut through their right flank and slice into their arcanists and snipers!” Talia’s body glowed with magical energy, as she charged like a meteor into two loyalist heavy soldiers. She pounced on them with her tiger claws, slaying both of them rapdily.

Natalie called out, “Charge! We need to cover our Captain!” Natalie unloaded bullets from her two revolvers into the enemy units trying to engage Talia. She then rapidly switched to her short swords and advanced into the fray. The various War Tiger squads rushed headlong into the fight right behind their commander and her apprentice.

Bradley was staying behind the charging rebels to cover his fiancé Mia and her unit of rebel snipers. Mia’s squad was focusing on taking down enemy magic wielders. They targeted chaplains first, as they regularly did, due to their healing abilities.

As the rebel air units continued to raze the loyalist forces atop the walls, Mara’s unit was closing in on Sapphire Coril. As for Sandra, she was slicing through loyalist after loyalist. The enemy was trying to stop her from reaching their commander. However, they had not been able to bring down the enraged former knight yet.

Mara saw a human enemy soldier’s longsword crackle with lightning as he attacked Sandra. The loyalist blademage was downed by a sniper round to the head from Mia. He collapsed before his weapon could connect with its intended target.

Mara saw Victor charging up an inferno burst, as bullets bounced off of his force shield. The resulting massive explosion of flame cleared a path for Talia’s troops to disrupt the loyalist right flank significantly. Mara noted that Victor was clearly doing his best to support and cover Talia. His interest in the tigress mercenary had clearly not waned since he had confessed his feelings to Mara.

Sugaru was currently focused on healing injured rebel soldiers. His spells, along with those from the rebels’ few other healers, kept the center of the formation going as it closed in on the western gate of Agharta.

Mara told Sugaru, “Follow me if you can! I am going to try and help cover Sandra! We take Coril down, we leave the enemy leaderless!”

Sugaru nodded, telling Mara, “I’ll have your back as always.”

Victor added, “I’ll try to keep the enemy off of you two with my spells! Good luck up there!”

As two loyalist dwarves moved up to block Mara and Sugaru’s advance, one of them was downed by Victor’s force rockets. The other was rapidly charged and dispatched by James. Mara gunned down a loyalist sniper taking aim at her with her revolver as she led Sugaru closer to Sandra.

Since the failure of her dimensional storm, Sapphire had been dividing her spells between healing her injured backline allies and protecting herself from enemy gunfire and spells with her shield and magical defenses. However, she now saw that Sandra Woodstock was almost through the squad of dwarven fanatics who had rushed in to block her path.

Sandra cleaved through the final two dwarven warriors with one impressive swing of her greatsword. She then readied her weapon for one last charge to reach Sapphire Coril, her husband’s killer.

Sapphire took aim with her sword and began to charge up a massive beam of purple light to blast Sandra into oblivion.

Seeing what was about to happen and with Sugaru focused on taking out a loyalist hobgoblin who was advancing on him, Mara shouted, “General! It was me! I killed you sister Sasha!”

Sapphire turned to Mara, her eyes flaring with purple fire. She screamed, “Winslow! I should have killed you when we had you in chains!” Sapphire fired her massive ray of purple light at Mara. She was clearly hoping to vaporize the Winslow Heiress in one shot.

Mara knew that she had granted Sandra the best chance of reaching the enemy forces’ commander. Knowing that she could not survive such a powerful attack, she narrowly ducked the coursing beam of light. The beam flew off into the distance behind Mara after flying over her head.

Sandra flung herself forward in one adrenaline-fueled motion. She raised up her sword, but Sapphire blocked the attack with her shield. Sapphire, who’s eyes were glowing solid purple, asked Sandra, “You think you can kill ME, girl?”

Sandra, angrily replied, “Yes, I think that I can!” She rapidly delivered a series of hammering strikes against her enemy. Sapphire was forced to use both her sword and her shield to counter the furious series of swings.

Mara and Sugaru were closing in on the duel at the center of the battle. The Loyalist Army was losing ground to the rebels quickly. They were not able to spare any more soldiers to aid their commander. The airborne rebels had almost cleared out the loyalist defenses atop the walls. The western gate remained open, possibly to allow the surviving loyalists an avenue of retreat if necessary.

Sapphire used a quick burst of purple flame to jet back away from Sandra. She readied her weapon and shield and said, “You cannot defeat me, Sandra. Your husband failed and he was a greater warrior than you!”

Sugaru called out, “Yes, but he was alone!” He summoned up a series of red energy rays and sent them flying at Sapphire. The High Priestess raised her shield, but found that her defensive implement had been Sugaru’s target the whole time. Sapphire’s shield was blown to pieces by the rays when they impacted it head on.

As Sapphire was slightly stunned, Mara reloaded her revolver. She then opened fire on two loyalist feloids who were rushing in to cover Sapphire. Each of them took two bullets and collapsed dead. As the pair of recon soldiers dropped, Mara knew she only had two shots left before having to reload again.

Sandra then charged Sapphire again. The, now unshielded, High Priestess sheathed her sword in purple fire. However, Sandra knocked the blade aside in one mighty strike.

As Sapphire tried to take a swing at Sandra’s side, Victor moved up and tossed on of his acid spears at the weapon. The blade was disintegrated as it was about to slice into Sandra’s side.

Sandra clearly realized that her opponent was vulnerable. She let out an empowering scream and impaled her blade into Sapphire’s lower chest. The greatsword pierced the light elven priestess’s enchanted armor and was driven in so far that its point burst bloodily out of her back.

The purple light in Sapphire’s eyes dimmed. She ignited one of her hands, the one that had just held her sword, with purple flames and shouted, “This is not over!”

Mara retorted, “Sorry, but you are wrong about that.” She then shot Sapphire’s ignited arm, interrupting her casting and stopping her from healing herself.

Sapphire saw her sword arm go limp. She grimaced and then ignited her other arm. However, Mara took aim with her last bullet and shot that arm as well. With Sugaru and Victor covering her, Mara shouted to Sandra, “Finish her off! It’s time to end this battle and this war!”

\---

Sapphire knew that she was dying. Sandra’s blade had impaled her, and her attempts to heal herself had been thwarted by Mara Winslow. As time seemed to slow down, the Greatest Traitor’s life flashed before her eyes. She remembered all that had led her to this catastrophic moment. She could not help but wonder one thing through it all. Why had she failed? Why had so many of her people betrayed her and the United Church? What had gone wrong? Why were they not grateful? The United Church had destroyed the genocidal Order of Light and brought about just unity across Terranor. Why couldn’t the rebels accept that?

Sapphire’s mind suddenly settled on the first meeting of those blessed with the purple flame. It had been during that meeting that Kylana had orchestrated her plan to deceive the people of Terranor into believing that the UCG’s god, The Amalgamate, was the actual creator of Austean. Sapphire had been reluctant to support the lie at first. However, she had championed the deception in the end.

Suddenly, as her body numbed, it all hit Sapphire like a thrown brick to the face. How had she been so blind? Why had she turned her back on honesty and openness? It was the grand lie! That was why the United Church was failing, why she had failed. The deception should have never been church policy. At worst, the truth should have been admitted once the Order of Light had been brought down. Keeping the secret for so long had not been worth the lives of all who had died in this monstrous war.

Sapphire began to fall to her knees with an enraged Sandra’s sword still inside of her. In one final moment of clarity, she saw who was truly most at fault for the corruption of the United Church. In the end, their god had come to regret their deceptive decision. However, someone else never had. Kylana had been the one who first championed the grand lie. She had led Sapphire down a dark path. Now, Sapphire was going to die a villain. Hopefully, the rebels would spare what remained of the capital. Hopefully, they would spare Sheila, her daughter. And hopefully, they would stop Kylana from escaping Terranor.

Sapphire knew that she did not have the breath to tell the rebels Kylana’s whereabouts. However, she could utter one last thing…

Suddenly, Sapphire heard Sandra scream, “For Antonio, you witch!” The former knight angrily twisted her massive blade inside of Sapphire’s body.

Sapphire was blacking out fast. She could not tell the rebels of Antonio Woodstock’s true intentions, or where Kylana was. As she slipped into the next life, Sapphire Cordwin Coril’s last words were, “Damn you, Kylana!”

\---

Sandra Woodstock withdrew her blade from her former general. Mara, Sugaru and Victor finally caught up with her as she did so.

Mara looked around and saw that the Loyalist Army soldiers who remained were unable to hold their defensive lines any longer. They began to fall back into Agharta in a panic. The loyalists fled through the Western Gate, many of them had dropped their weapons. They knew that the rebels had won once they saw their leader impaled on Sandra’s blade.

Victor saw the loyalist forces fleeing in near total disarray. He asked, “Shall we pursue them? We don’t want the enemy closing that gate before we can get inside the capital.”

Mara nodded and readied her shotgun. She said, “We will force their surrender once we get inside the city. We just need to be on the lookout for any hostile reserve forces.”

Sandra called out, “All units forward! Today, we take Agharta!”

With Talia and Natalie leading the War Tigers and Mara and Sandra at the very front of the main force, the rebels surged forward towards the Western Gate of Agharta.

As the front ranks of the rebel armies neared the gate, still opening fire on the retreating loyalists, they saw that the enemy was reforming their formation and holding position just inside the gate. However, they were focusing purely on defending themselves. They were no longer returning fire.

As Mara and Sandra reached the Western Gate, they saw a light elven brunette wearing a chaplain’s uniform with her sword and shield sheathed. She was standing in front of the remaining loyalist units along with a man Mara recognized as Captain Eric Ewdrick. Captain Ewdrick had led the Cerberus Battalion’s main rival Terranoran Army unit during the last war.

Mara saw that Eric was holding a large wooden pole with a white flag attached to it at the top. She quickly ordered, “All units, halt! Hold your fire, but be at the ready!”

As the rebel armies slowly stooped their advance, with their frontlines just inside the capital city, Sheila called out, “All United Church forces cease fire!” She then took a step forward and a deep breath. As Eric held up the white flag, Sheila continued, “We hereby surrender the City of Agharta and the armed forces of the Domain of Terranor. Our only condition for the surrender is that our faith be allowed to continue to exist legally. We accept the removal of the United Church of God from all government functions if that is what you demand.”

Mara smiled. It seemed as though the loyalists had finally seen reason. Sadly, Sapphire Coril had not lived to see that moment.


	31. The New Domain

Mara Winslow was standing at the head of the Rebel Army formation that had just breached the Western gate of the Terranoran capital city of Agharta. Standing close to Mara were Sandra Burke, Victor Nikolov and Sugaru Zaki, Mara’s fiancé. Sheila Coril, the daughter of the fallen High Priestess Sapphire Cordwin Coril, had just declared the surrender of the Domain of Terranor and her armed forces to the invading rebels. Standing next to her, Captain Eric Ewdrick was holding a wooden pole with a large white flag tied to it.

Mara smiled and began to carefully lower her shotgun. She was immensely relieved that _Operation Ragnarok _had succeeded. The surviving loyalists in the capital were finally giving up. That left Mara with one last objective before she could return home to Bakaria. She needed to find and kill, Kylana. She would avenge Isabella’s death, even with the war officially over.

As a key rebel leader, Mara knew that she would have to say something in response to Sheila’s offer of surrender. She cleared her throat as she looked around the ruins of Western Agharta. The rebels’ heavy artillery had really done a number on much of the capital.

Suddenly, as Mara was preparing to make a statement, Sandra raised her own shotgun. Even though she did not open fire, she glared at Sheila and angrily declared, “You really think that I will accept your surrender, after all that you have done? I have lost my husband, the father of my unborn child! I will honor his memory… I won’t stop until your kind are wiped from the face of this world!” Sandra was breathing heavily. However, she then smiled wickedly at Sheila and continued, “You… I remember you! You are her daughter, aren’t you? Your mother fell by my blade. She may not be here now, but I think killing you would have made her suffer…”

Sheila seemed to reach for her sword and shield. Both rebels and loyalists looked greatly uneasy. Many began to reach for their weapons. Sugaru began to charge up his red energy rays. However, he seemed more likely to blast Sandra with them than anyone else present.

Mara sighed deeply. She knew what she needed to do. Her parents had always told her that one day, she would learn what it truly meant to be a great leader. Now, she saw the moment coming, her moment.

In one swift motion, Mara gave Sandra a hard slap across the side of the face. Sandra lowered her shotgun in shock as Mara turned to her, shouting, “Knock it off Sandra! …It’s over. We won, they lost. They are surrendering because they want this horrific war to end. I know that you lost someone extremely near and dear to you. Well, so did I! Still, I am not going to let that turn me into a blind monster. I always intended to end this war with the United Church’s surrender and removal from power. We need to be the ones who end this cycle of rebellion and destruction for good. I know that Antonio might have wanted something different. Still, do you want your child’s mother to be a murderess? I will not stand by and let you, or anyone, slay defenseless people and prolong the conflict. Today, the United Church’s Domain dies. Now, it will be up to you to build something better. I might be planning to take Bakaria out of the Domain. However, I am right here now and I won’t let the new Terranor be built on more bloodshed than we have already seen!”

As Mara breathed heavily, Sugaru stopped charging his rays and took his betrothed’s hand.

James looked over at Sandra and sighed. He told her, “Mara is right, Sandra. The war needs to end here and now. We cannot become our enemies, or something worse.”

Bradley added, ‘We fought hard for this day. We can’t let ourselves get out of control and ruin everything. The remaining worshippers of the UCG need to know that we are the ones in power now. However, they also need to know that we can be just and even merciful.”

Talia chimed in, “Lady Mara is my company’s client. I am contractually obligated to stand by her. I would advise that you all take her words seriously.”

Natalie nodded as she stood by Talia. Mia pointed out, “Even for someone like me, all of this killing has got to end. We need to put this civil war behind us. Showing mercy will help us rebuild what has been torn asunder.”

Victor patted Mara on the back and said, “Bakaria’s forces will not be privy to a war of extermination. I think we need to look to the future, not the past. It’s time to end the mindless bloodshed.”

Sandra collapsed to her knees after dropping her shotgun. She put her head in her hands and tears flowed freely from her eyes. After a few moments, she looked up and stood back up. She then looked over at the assembled armies and said, “I will never forgive the United Church. However, I will allow those among their faithful who survive to live with the knowledge that they have lost. They were truly on the wrong side of history. Besides, I want to set a good example for my child. Mara, I will not stand in your way. I leave it to you and the others to deal with the formal surrender agreement.”

Mara smiled at Sandra and nodded. Sugaru then took her hand and told her, “Now, that is the woman I fell in love with, a good woman.”

Mara blushed brightly. She then stepped forward and looked Sheila Coril in the eyes. She sternly told the light elven priestess, “I will accept your proposed surrender agreement on one condition. There is one among your faith who I have sworn to slay. You will tell me where she has gone. Now, where is Kylana?”

Sheila folded her arms. Mara sensed immense tension in her eyes. The Winslow Heiress told Sheila, “I just offered to accept your surrender and probably saved your life. You know where Kylana is, or is going, don’t you? Tell me so we can end this war.”

Sheila seemed to know that Mara had her right where she wanted her. Mara finished, “I have plenty of witnesses here to confirm what I am about to say…. Your mother cursed Kylana’s name as she died. I don’t know why. Still, I intend to find out her location one way or another. Tell me and we can get to signing a treaty.”

Sheila sighed deeply and looked Mara in the eyes. She replied, “You win, Lady Winslow. Kylana is gathering as many of the remaining faithful in Playamar Port as she can. Once they collect enough people, they intend to set sail for a foreign land. Kylana intends to restart the United Church there.”

Victor surmised, “That means that, given time, Terranor could be threatened by the UCG again. We need to nip this in the bud.”

Mara ordered, “We need to send a message to Admiral Hooper as quickly as possible. His fleet needs to blockade Playamar’s harbor and sink any warships they find there. They should threaten to open fire on, or board and capture, any ship leaving the harbor. We do not want a single United Church ship getting away!”

Mara looked back over to Sheila and told her, “Thank you for the information. You made the right decision by telling me the truth. Kylana will be stopped, but your people here will live. Now, we should find a nice, intact place to draft a treaty and sign it.”

As the rebel armies streamed into Agharta, Mara and Sheila walked over to the Prime Church, along with other rebel and loyalist leaders. The building had been damaged in multiple places by heavy artillery fire. However, the majority of the grand structure was intact. The delegations found a safe meeting room in which to draft and sign the treaty that would officially end the Second Terranoran Civil War.

The basic points of the treaty indicated that political authority over the Domain of Terranor would be transferred over to a democratically elected government with representatives from all provinces over the next year or two. Existing provinces would be given the legal option to not take place in the formation of the new continental government, thereby establishing themselves as independent states. Provinces would also be able to legally secede from the Domain if a majority of their populace voted in favor in the future. The new continental government would allow its remaining provinces a strong degree of home rule.

The new Domain would have a standing military. However, it would be reduced in size from the pre-civil war Domain’s armed forces. Free trade agreements with the, soon to secede, Northern Provinces were to be drafted once the Domain’s first elected government was stably in office. The United Church was to be banned from any and all participation in large-scale politics. However, they would be allowed to continue preaching and practicing their religion. They would also be allowed access to a small militia that would protect their faithful and provide healing and support to the regular army when called upon.

With the civil war effectively over, the armed forces of the newly-reconstituted Domain of Terranor decided to split up into three main groups. One group was to stay in Agharta and hold the capital, as well as coordinate early reconstruction efforts. Sandra would stay with that unit. However, she would be accompanied by officers who would make sure that no immoral orders were issued, or carried out. The second group would include James Benson and would be sent south towards Ruvia. Their job would be to disarm remaining United Church loyalists in the southern regions of the continent and make sure that the surrender agreement was enforced. The third and final group would be led by Mara Winslow. That group was to make haste to Playamar Port by whatever means of transit they could commandeer. They would take a good portion of the new Domain’s artillery with them and attempt to storm the seaside city and stop Kylana’s forces and supporters from evacuating. One of the two military airships would go with James’s unit, the other with Mara’s. One Fadalian fire breather would go with each of the three forces.

Mara had agreed to lead the forces of the new Domain one time in order to see Kylana stopped. Official orders were to be sent out identifying the church soldiers and sailors in Playamar as rebels against the Domain of Terranor. Kylana would be officially charged in the murder of Isabella Vladis and a warrant for her arrest would be sent out.

Nobody expected Kylana to surrender. Taking dragons prisoner had always been notoriously hard. Especially the older and stronger ones. The plan was that once Admiral Hooper’s fleet had blockaded the port and sunk all of the United Church’s warships, Mara’s forces would encircle the city by land. The new Domain’s artillery would batter down Playamar’s walls and gates. Then, Mara would lead an infantry charge into the city. Their goal would be to bring Kylana down. If they could defeat her, then hopefully the remaining United Church forces in Playamar would surrender.

Notices were also planned to be sent out to all Terranoran foreign embassies. They were to be informed of the change in governments. Any foreign officers who opposed the new government would be forced to resign. Also, all Terranoran embassies were to ask their host states not to accept any refugee followers of the United Church of God until told otherwise.

With the new treaty signed, Mara and Sugaru went to find an intact place in which to get some rest and spend some time with just the two of them. After all of the day’s fighting, the young couple wanted to spend some time alone together. The two of them knew that their final confrontation with Kylana was still to come. They also knew that they would have to return home to Bakaria after that. There, they would find a way to return Sandra’s dogs to her safely. Soon after that, they planned to be officially wed. Of course, before any of that could happen, they would need to put an end to their greatest foe, the final member of the United Church’s High Council. Kylana was the one who had founded the whole religion and led the effort to perpetuate the grand deception. It would soon be time to go dragon slaying.


	32. The Last High Priestess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers, I wanted to inform you that I will be posting both this chapter and this story's final chapter/epilogue this morning. That way, this story will be fully posted today. Thank you all for reading this far.

Over the two days following the surrender of Agharta, the victorious former rebels split up their forces into three parts as planned. Work was also begun on rebuilding the capital, even though that was still in the very early stages. Once the force that Mara was to lead to Playamar was assembled, it departed out of Agharta’s mostly intact Eastern Gate.

Talia, Natalie, Oliver and the rest of the War Tigers went with Mara, Victor and Sugaru on their march to Playamar. Talia and Natalie had said that, even though they could not speak for their company as a whole on this matter, they would help kill Kylana free of charge. The two women shared Mara’s desire to avenge Isabella’s death. Natalie had witnessed the callous murder firsthand. As for Talia, she and Isabella had clearly become friends during the campaign against the UCG’s army. Bradley Falchum and Mia Buraig also went with Mara’s forces. The engaged couple wanted to help truly bring an end to the United Church as a powerful force in the world.

Orders had been sent to Admiral Christopher Hooper’s fleet stationed off the east coast of central Terranor to blockade Playamar’s harbor and sink any warships stationed there. They were also to fire on, or attempt to board and seize, any civilian ship that tried to leave Playamar’s harbor.

It took five days for Mara’s force to gather within sight of Playamar’s walls. They had used trains, cargo airships, carriages, river boats and whatever other means they could get access to in order to transport their army of over one-thousand personnel to the port city’s outskirts.

What had up until recently been the rebel navy had reported back in the day before Mara’s forces had arrived to invade Playamar by land. Admiral Hooper’s fleet had arrived the morning before and launched an early-morning surprise attack on Playamar Harbor. The United Church’s warships in the harbor, along with two transport ships, had been sunk in the initial assault. The new Domain’s fleet had been focused on destroying the port’s defensive cannons and clearing out the harbor of enemy personnel since then. Once the harbor had been cleared out, the allied warships had formed their blockade. They made sure to keep crews watching the harbor at all times. They were determined not to let a single UCG transport escape their cordon.

The new Domain had also sent out a series of orders declaring the United Church forces in Playamar Port rebels and criminals and demanding their surrender and disarmament. Kylana had also been declared a wanted criminal for the murder of Isabella Vladis. The entire assault on Playamar was declared to be a police action to prevent the outlaw force from escaping Terranoran justice. The whole thing was a deliciously ironic turn of events. The former undisputed rulers of Terranor had lost four-fifths of their membership. To boot, the final member of their High Council was now being treated as a wanted criminal.

Now, the new Domain’s army was camped out in an encirclement around Playamar Port’s walls. The airship hovering above the formation was busy firing down at the port city’s cannons. Batteries of long-range cannons had been set up behind the new Domain’s frontline. Like Agharta before her, Playamar was suffering a long-range barrage of artillery. However, this time, the bombardment was only to last for less than a day before the big guns were to fall silent.

Mara’s goals in raining down shells on Playamar were to destroy much of the city’s walls and to force the UCG troops inside of the city to evacuate themselves and their civilian charges closer to the ocean. Mara was hoping to corner her enemies between her army and their naval blockade. She intended to offer Kylana’s followers surrender. The High Priestess herself would likely not accept such an offer. However, Mara still hoped to spare as many other enemies as she could. 

It was early afternoon on a warm Autumn day when the new Domain’s armed forces began their attack on Playamar. With the War Tigers alongside them, and their airship and dragon covering them from the sky, they marched past the demolished walls of Playamar and into the city. Mara, accompanied by Victor, Sugaru, Talia and Natalie was near the center of the formation making its way into Playamar.

As the new Domain’s soldiers streamed into Playamar, they faced some degree of scattered resistance from United Church soldiers. These enemies were still wearing old Terranoran Army uniforms. One unintended consequence of Bakaria having been the starting point of the Second Rebellion was that the new Domain’s soldiers were still wearing uniforms inspired by the dark blue and white of the Bakarian Militia. It was likely that that change would be permanent. The new Domain’s soldiers would not want to wear the uniforms worn during the United Church’s rule. Also, they had large stockpiles of the Bakarian-inspired uniforms now. Why would they waste resources changing to another uniform design?

The new Domain’s soldiers did their best to push deeper into Playamar. They soon found that their artillery barrage had leveled whole blocks just inside of the city’s walls. However, it had left much of the city intact past a certain point. It also looked as though the United Church’s soldiers had evacuated their civilian charges east towards the docks. Mara did not know if her enemies would attempt an evacuation despite the naval blockade. If they did, their ships would likely be sunk or captured by Admiral Hooper’s fleet. The unarmed and slow-moving transports in Playamar’s harbor would be no match for the heavily-armed warships.

The enemy’s resistance intensified as Mara led her forces deeper into Playamar. Sugaru focused mainly on healing. Victor took out entire enemy positions with inferno bursts. Talia led her troops forward to outflank the enemy and slice through their formations where they least expected it. Mia and Natalie focused on leading their sniper units in eliminating hostile snipers and spellcasters. Mara focused on directing her troops in the most efficient and effective ways possible. She was in Playamar to kill Kylana. She wanted to focus on keeping her soldiers alive and pushing forward until then. One question remained in the Winslow Heiress’s mind as the battle wore on. When would Kylana finally show herself?

The new Domain’s armies took various paths to clear out and push back their enemies as they steadily closed in on the docks. Their initial artillery barrage, along with fire from their airships, had taken out a large portion of the enemy defenders early on.

It was mid-afternoon when Mara and her allies found themselves bursting into Playamar Square. There, over a century ago, Sapphire Cordwin had faced the Order of Light’s Continental Army and saved the lives of a number of deep elf prisoners who had been scheduled for execution.

Once they entered the square, with its stone pavement and old fountains, Mara and her forces did their best to take cover. They saw dozens of United Church troops holding defensive positions across the historic space. This was clearly where the enemy had decided to defend their civilian charges. This was where they were going to make their last stand.

Mara heard an all too familiar voice calling out from above, “I was so foolish before. To believe that it was for the best for me to preach and lead from the rear. I will no longer tolerate such cowardice in myself! Now, face the wrath of God!”

Mara looked up and grimaced. She shouted, “Incoming! There she is!”

Kylana was indeed flying above her forces in her dragon form. In her true form, Kylana was a massive reptilian beast with thick and shiny silver scales and wickedly sharp claws. Her long neck sported an armored head. Her tail was an impressive length, as was her wingspan. Kylana’s eyes were burning with purple flames as she glared down at Mara. 

Kylana began to dive downwards. Her claws glowed with intense purple fire as she let out a raging screech. With the new Domain’s airship helping another allied unit, Kylana was able to swoop down unimpeded.

Mara shouted, “Get out of the way!”

Kylana summoned a column of purple fire over Mara, Talia, Natalie, and some of their soldiers. Thankfully, Mara and the two mercenaries were able to narrowly avoid the blast of energy. However, some of their allies were not so lucky.

Sugaru got to healing as Victor charged up an inferno burst and watched Kylana carefully. Mara unloaded a full six shots into the airborne dragon. The bullets seemed to not have much impact. Talia called out, “I will lead a charge to slice into their frontline! Nat, help Mia by taking down enemy casters and snipers. Lady Mara, good luck taking that monster down.”

Talia glowed with energy and accelerated forward towards a break in the enemy lines. Most of the present War Tigers followed her forward. Natalie ran into a nearby building with two of her subordinates. They were going to try and claim good sniping positions. Mia, covered by Bradley as usual, led her sniper unit on the ground in opening fire on the enemy’s snipers and spellcasters.

Victor saw Kylana swooping down for a close-range pass. He successfully detonated a massive inferno burst over the mighty dragoness, slightly disrupting her pass. Kylana also took a volley of bullets and spells from Mara’s soldiers, as the Mara reloaded her revolver.

Kylana channeled a burst of purple light to heal some of her injuries. She then continued her swoop. However, the Fadalian fire breather volunteer who had come with Mara’s force swooped in and unleashed a cone of fire on the noble dragoness.

Kylana was caught off guard. She blasted the Fadalian dragon out of the air with her freezing breath. As the fire breather collapsed out of the sky, Kylana landed menacingly in front of the center of her allies’ lines.

Kylana screamed, “We had brought order and peace to this continent! You are so ungrateful and arrogant to think that we were a social disease to be cured through violence! Our master failed to send us the army that could have put down your uprising! Now, this disaster has come down upon us!”

Kylana saw Mara finishing reloading her revolver. She then narrowed her eyes and told Mara, “I will see you dead, you insolent girl! You have ruined the law and order that I had brought to this continent in my master’s name!” 

Suddenly, the purple light in Kylana’s eyes faded away. Mara noticed Kylana beginning to panic and could not help but grin. She called out, “It seems like someone has deiced you no longer represent their interests! I will give you one final chance to surrender your forces and face trial for your crimes, Kylana.”

Kylana screamed with rage and began to advance forward towards Mara as the two forces kept exchanging gunfire and spells. Mara unloaded another six shots into Kylana’s scaly hide. Sugaru summoned up a pulse of fire and threw it at the advancing dragoness. Mia nailed Kylana in the side of her long neck with a well-placed shot. Hails of gunfire from Mara’s allies bombarded Kylana as her forces were sliced into by Talia’s troops on the ground. Sniper fire from Natalie’s rooftop nest also tore into the United Church soldiers.

As an enemy bullet bounced off one of Mara’s shoulder plates, she began to back up. Kylana was tearing through Mara’s soldiers in an effort to reach the Winslow Heiress.

Mara took aim with her shotgun and fired a solid slug into the advancing dragoness. Kylana was now getting outflanked by the new Domain’s troops. Her own soldiers were now too far away to support her effectively.

As bullets and blades rained down on Kylana, Mara fired off another slug. Victor, shouted, “This is for Isabella!” He blasted Kylana with two rays of fire. One of them impacted the dragoness in the neck, the other in her chest.

Finally, Kylana began to stagger. Unable to heal herself, the old dragoness was getting worn down by the barrage of attacks. Mara shouted to her subordinates, “Cover me! I am going in to finish her off! …for Isabella and for the end of this whole mess of a war!”

Kylana saw Mara’s subordinates focusing their attacks on any United Church soldiers coming to try and aid their leader. She also saw Mara rushing towards her with her shotgun ready. Kylana tried to chomp Mara in half, as the two foes closed in on each other. However, Mara dodged the incoming draconic maw. She then pumped two solid slugs into Kylana in rapid succession. One slug pierced each of her knees.

Finally, Kylana collapsed. Her head hit the ground with one eye facing up. She was still alive, but horrifically injured and bleeding in multiple places.

Dodging a lazily swung claw, Mara jumped onto Kylana’s head. She then pumped her shotgun and aimed the weapon at Kylana’s upward-facing eye. Kylana was barely breathing now. She was wheezing heavily and coughing up blood.

Mara’s allies now began to push the United Church’s remaining soldiers back in earnest. The enemy was now terribly demoralized. Their leader had fallen and seemed no longer able to channel their god’s holy power. Mara, on the other hand, was still being covered by Sugaru, Victor and Mia.

Mara looked into Kylana’s hate-filled eye and asked her, “What did I tell you earlier?”

Kylana replied, “You still don’t realize what you have done, you stupid, entitled, brat! You will never be able to atone for the sins that you have committed!”

Mara shook her head and told Kylana, “No, what I told you is that you would die for murdering my friend…”

BLAM! Mara, discharged a final solid slug from her shotgun. Kylana was not able to offer another enraged rebuttal before the high-velocity projectile penetrated her eye and sliced through into the dragoness’s brain. Kylana finally stopped breathing. The founder of the United Church of God had died a disgraced villainess.

Mara then pumped her shotgun and called out to the United Church soldiers who remained, “The war is over! You all have one last chance to surrender! I advise you to take it now.”

Slowly but surely, as Sugaru and Victor walked over to stand beside Mara, the remaining UCG soldiers surrendered to the new Domain’s forces and the War Tigers. The battle for Playamar was over. The civilians who had hoped to escape the continent would have to stay and accept the end of their faith’s rule. What mattered most to Mara Winslow was that Kylana was dead by her hand. Isabella had been avenged. As Sugaru embraced her, Mara saw Victor and Talia embracing out of the corner of her eye. She smiled as Sugaru whispered to her, “I think we finally did it. We won.”

Mara sighed and replied, “Yeah, we did. Still, we can never forget all that it cost us. …We should head north to Narvograd as soon as we can. I think we will have a lot of business to take care of once we get back there.”

Sugaru asked, “There is the secession to finalize.”

Mara nodded. However, she replied, “Also, our wedding.”

Sugaru and Mara looked into each other’s eyes and then kissed as their allies were disarming the United Church’s surviving forces. Finally, they could have both peace and freedom.


	33. Epilogue: A Free Continent

Soon after the capture of Playamar, Mara Winslow returned to Agharta along with her friends and allies. There, they received reports that the new Domain’s forces in the south had been successfully mopping up any resistance they encountered among the United Church’s followers. For the most part, the former loyalists in the south had accepted the surrender agreement. Despite the comparatively brief duration of the civil war, those on both sides wanted peace to return.

Back in Agharta, documents were drawn up that would formally begin the process of reconstituting the Domain of Terranor as a secular government. Mara finally saw her goal of Bakarian secession accomplished. She, along with representatives from the other Northern Provinces, signed documents legally removing their nations from the Domain of Terranor. Drafts of free trade agreements were created, with the hope of keeping all of Terranor economically sustainable. The representatives of the former Northern Provinces all made an agreement to meet in Narvograd in the months to come to draft and sign a mutual defense treaty there.

As the process of rebuilding much of Terranor’s infrastructure and electing the new continental government began, it became clear that most of the provinces intended to join the new Domain, rather than seek independence. With the new Domain being more akin to a loose confederation of states than anything, many provinces decided that it was worth it to stay for the foreseeable future. This suited Mara just fine. As long as northern independence was honored, she was fine with the rest of the Domain sticking together.

With Agharta in the midst of being rebuilt, Mara, Sugaru, Victor, the surviving Bakarian Militia soldiers who had fought alongside them and the War Tigers returned to Narvograd. There, the mercenaries’ payment was finalized and most of the Fadalian volunteers who had survived the war began to return home. 

Once she was finally back in Narvograd Palace, Mara made sure that Maisy and Trixie were sent south to Agharta to be returned to Sandra Woodstock. The two dogs had been well cared for in the palace. As for Nalia, Mara and Victor made sure to give her lots of hugs. They did their best to explain Isabella’s absence to the animal. Nalia seemed to understand what had happened on some level. She seemed to mope around the palace for weeks after hearing about Isabella’s undeserved fate. Mara still did her best to assure Nalia that she had avenged Isabella’s death.

Mara was also reunited with her parents upon her return to Narvograd. There, she was able to formally introduce her fiancé to them. The Lord and Lady Winslow had approved their daughter’s engagement while she had been in Fadalia after the war with Eulidia had concluded. However, it was only now that they were able to meet the man who would become Mara’s husband and likely father the next Winslow generation. Fortunately, Mara’s parents came to the conclusion that they had made the right decision by allowing Sugaru and Mara’s engagement. They had become aware of how Sugaru had come from Fadalia, causing other volunteers to follow him, to aid Mara in her greatest time of need. They had also learned of how Sugaru had saved Mara’s life in the nick of time when she had been mortally wounded by a loyalist artillery strike.

Bakaria was now in the process of becoming an independent state, developing a new judiciary system in the process. Mara knew that, despite all that had happened along the way, she would go down in history as a liberator. She would be seen as the one who stood up to ruthless tyrants and freed both Bakaria and Terranor from the corruption of the United Church.

In the spring of 1891, Mara and Sugaru were married in front of Narvograd Palace. Sugaru had to take the Winslow name as part of the wedding agreement he signed with Mara’s family. However, Mara agreed to have their wedding officiated by one of the Fadalian shamans who had instructed Sugaru in his younger years. It was not like any surviving member of the United Church’s clergy would be willing to officiate the wedding. After all the pain that the UCG had inflicted on her life, Mara would not have wanted its presence at her wedding anyway.

Victor Nikolov began a romantic relationship with Talia Fujiwhara in earnest after returning home to Bakaria. He announced that he was planning on opening up a Bakarian Academy of Magic in Narvograd after being honorably dismissed from his position as Lady Mara’s personal Attendant Arcanist. As for Talia, Victor proposed to her in the summer of 1891. She had been spending a considerable portion of her time in Narvograd even after fulfilling the terms of her contract with Mara. Talia accepted Victor’s proposal and decided to move to Narvograd for good. She retired from mercenary work, handing over command of the War Tigers to Natalie and Oliver. Talia then asked Mara to appoint her to be the new head of the Bakarian Intelligence Services. Something that Mara happily agreed to. Talia wanted to carry on Isabella’s legacy and honor her fallen friend as best as she could. Victor and Talia, unable to produce biological children, adopted multiple orphans of the preceding wars. They saw the adoptions as a form of redemption for their parts played in the conflicts.

Natalie was given ownership of the War Tigers Mercenary Company by Talia. Natalie promised to do her teacher and “big sister” proud. Soon after she was given the rank of Captain of the War Tigers, Oliver Forester proposed to her. Natalie and Oliver were wed on Tosada Island, where they kept their company based out of. Natalie and Oliver, with occasional advice from Talia and Victor, grew the War Tigers into the largest, and most respected, private military force on Austean. In 1892, Natalie gave birth to twins, Alicia and Cyril Forrester. Alicia inherited her mother’s magically-altered silver hair. Cyril, on the other hand, had his father’s orange hair.

Sandra Woodstock stayed in Agharta and returned to the house she had briefly lived in with Antonio. Maisy and Trixie were returned to her soon after that. In the end, she and her victorious allies remained unaware of the full extent of Antonio’s true plans. He had not planned to reveal them until Agharta was taken by the rebels. However, he had not lived to see that happen. Sandra gave birth to her daughter, Tanya Woodstock, in 1891. Tanya was raised to hate the United Church and its surviving followers. Sandra still blamed the UCG for her daughter having to grow up without her father. Tanya would eventually become interested in joining the Domain’s military herself. She wanted to follow in the footsteps of her parents.

Bradley Falchum and Mia Buraig got married soon after war. The couple’s son Trevor was born in late 1891. He ended up with a little sister, Emily Falchum, in 1892. The couple stayed in the Agharta area and both got jobs in the Terranoran military as desk officers. Bradley and Mia kept their children away from the United Church. However, they did not raise them to hate the church as Sandra raised Tanya to do.

James Benson reunited with and married his civilian girlfriend Gillian soon after returning to Agharta from Ruvia. James and Gillian would end up having two children. First, their son Emmet and later their daughter Ruby. Emmet would grow up close to Tanya Woodstock, while Ruby and Emily became close friends from a young age. Trevor Falchum was the only one of the Falchum and Benson family’s offspring to decide from a young age that the military was not the career for him.

Alana Kubrick moved to Narvograd permanently soon after the war. She had fought with the rebel armies all the way to the gates of Agharta. She had stayed with Sandra’s force in the continental capital once the United Church had surrendered. In Narvograd, Alana and her light elven friend Zara were reunited. Alana and Zara ended up both working in the Bakarian militia after the war. The two friends ended up “upgrading” their relationship as well. Becoming lovers in the winter of 1890. The two women got married in the summer of 1891.

After losing the war, the United Church of God was still the largest religious institution in Terranor. However, its membership after the civil war was only around a quarter of what it had been before the conflict erupted. The UCG retained a small militia wearing old Terranoran Army uniforms. The Holy of Order of Knights narrowly survived the war. However, it only had scant few members left and no consolidated leadership. The church also began to split up along regional and provincial lines. Each vicinity elected a leader of the local clergy from amongst the regional faithful. There was no true United Church left, expect for occasional conferences held mainly in Agharta. The UCG had to allow the Prime Church to be demolished as they lacked the funds as a private religious institution to keep in maintained. Banned from all large-scale politics, the UCG could only preach and act according to what its surviving faithful believed was best. Most Terranorans now feared and hated the church that had previously ruled them. In some ways, the church’s followers had become the new light elves. The United Church had become a historical loser. However, it had still fared better than its genocidal predecessor, the Order of Light.

Sheila Coril, slightly ironically, began to date and eventually marry a half-light elven Vargas Technologies researcher and engineer named Timothy Adams after the war. Sheila gave birth to her daughter, Selena Adams in 1892. Her son, Chuck Adams, was born in 1894. Sheila was able to leverage the legacy of her fallen mother to become the leader of the United Church in Agharta. She also fought tirelessly to preserve what was left of her mother’s legacy. She was able to have a small monument to her mother built right behind her grave in a cemetery owned by the UCG. However, the legacy of the Greatest Traitor had forever been stained by her involvement in the Grand Lie, as it began to be publically know. In the end, history was once again written by the victors.

Eric Ewdrick returned to his wife after the war. She gave birth to their son, Stanley Ewdrick, in the winter of 1890. Stanley grew up with the daughter of his family’s neighbors, the Carlton’s. Lana, the Carlton’s daughter, became fast friends with Stanley from a young age. The two of them were raised in the United Church, despite the prejudice now surrounding the religion. Lana expressed interest in joining the Holy Order of Knights when she grew up. Eric became the Marshall of the United Church’s Militia after the war. He wanted to do his best to protect the surviving faithful from those who would harm them.

Isabella Vladis’ body was never recovered. It had likely been cremated by the loyalist forces in the Plaincrest Camp. Mara Winslow had a monument to her slain friend built in front of the headquarters of the Bakarian Intelligence Services after Talia was appointed to be Isabella’s successor.

Antonio Woodstock was viewed as a hero and a martyr across Terranor and Austean for decades after the fall of the old Domain. His true plans could have led to unending wars across Austean, had they been enacted. However, the general public never learned what he had told Sapphire Coril during their fateful duel. His reputation was intact. However, Austean had been spared the full extent of his wrath.

In the spring of 1900, Mara Alastair Winslow and her husband Sugaru Zaki Winslow were declared the Lady and Lord of Bakaria by the nation’s Parliament. Mara’s parents had retired earlier that year. Mara had by that point given birth to an heiress to the Winslow line, Hitomi Zaki Winslow. Mara and Sugaru had agreed that they would name any children that their union produced based on opposite sex. Mara would name any boys, while Sugaru would name any girls. Sugaru had gotten to name their child based on that agreement.

For years after the conclusion of the Second Terranoran Civil War, Mara would harbor great guilt for her part in starting the conflict. She knew well that in some ways, the whole conflict had erupted out of her desire to see Bakaria become independent. Those close to Mara repeatedly told her that freedom and justice has won out in the end. The United Church had been exposed and defeated. Now, Terranor was the least religious continent of Austean. It was also widely viewed as the most democratic and socially open. The cycle of rebellion had hopefully been ended once and for all. It took time for Mara to come to fully accept all that had happened. Even then, some of it would haunt her for the rest of her life. Despite her guilt, she knew that the past was the past. All that she could do now was look to the future. The good news was that it looked like a free future.

_Sacred Wars Part II: Fall of Austean: _THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I just wanted to give one final thank you to anyone who has read this story. That goes double for anyone who left a kudos. Secondly, I want to say that I currently do not have any other stories in the queue to be posted after this one. Therefore, we will have to wait and see what I write and post next. I am glad that I was able to write, finish and post this story, seeing as it "closes the loop" between the original Sacred Wars and my crossover story, Convergence. With all of that said, I hope that you all enjoyed the story. That is all for now.


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